Joe The Plumber Bummer: Thumbs Nose at Global Gaming Expo

You can hear the collective sobs from organizers and attendees of the 2008 Global Gaming Expo as news broke this weekend that everyone's favorite plumber (or make that, most annoying) will not be in attendance at this week's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.  It seems Joe The Plumber (AKA Joe Wurzelbacher) is too booked to attend.

Norm Clarke of the Las Vegas Review Journal reports that the Ohio plumber was listed among the lineup of celebrities heading for the world's largest gaming trade show, which is being held this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

"His newly hired agent, Nashville, Tenn., public relations guru Jim Della Croce, is on a how-to-brand-your-casino panel at the trade show, and thought Wurzelbacher's presence would translate into good exposure.

"But he has guest appearances in Los Angeles this week and a commitment to work on his new book in Dallas."

"He's a great example of someone who's got their 15 minutes of fame and is trying to capitalize on it," said Clinton Billups, an entertainment executive with G2E.

Joe The Plumber made national headlines during the recent US Presidential campaign when his question about tax policy resulted in a response by Barack Obama that he wants to "spread the wealth" around by raising taxes on families earning more than $250,000 a year.  Republican candidate John McCain then made Joe the Plumber a regular fixture of his last few weeks of campaigning.

Joe later became an expert on Israeli affairs (telling McCain supporters that Obama's Presidency would mean the end to Israel) and it was later discovered that Wurzelbacher was not even a licensed plumber.

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Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com