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CBS Webcast: Examining McCain-Obama debate No. 3

The central figure of the final presidential debate of this election season may well have been a plumber from Ohio. Katie Couric has that and more.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
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Jon Skillings

Presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama squared off Wednesday night for their third and final debate before Election Day, but the star of the show might have been Joe the Plumber.

Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber, loomed large in the debate after McCain brought him up as an everyman worried about what might happen with tax rates under a new administration. As they have in the previous debates, McCain and Obama tried to spell out their economic philosophies for a curious electorate, and especially undecided voters.

Following the debate, which also covered the general domestic policy plans of the two candidates, Wurzelbacher spoke with Katie Couric of CBS News about what it meant for him to have had such a prominent role in the event and about his impressions of Obama and McCain. That conversation is part of a longer CBS News Webcast examining the debate and how the candidates fared.

Besides Wurzelbacher, Couric talks in the Debate Webcast--presented here--with a panel of undecided voters from across the country and with other guests including Sen. Hillary Clinton and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.