When Joe Wurzelbacher a/k/a "Joe the plumber" asked Senator Barack Obama a question about Obama's tax plan, I doubt Joe expected much more than a politician's well coached answer. What he got a few nights later at the final presidential debate was overnight fame.

Then the attack came.

The entire Joe the plumber chapter of this presidential election contest has magnified nagging flaws I perceive in both candidate's campaigns.

On Senator John McCain's side, regarding Joe the plumber, I'm left to wonder about the capability of the team he assembled to run his campaign. Let's peak behind the screen and see McCain's strategist working the Joe the plumber angle. There go the aides, there go the writers, all running with the idea. The campaign heads are plotting and planning.

Does anybody call Joe?

Do they check the pronunciation of his last name?

Do they get permission to make him headline news?

McCain doesn't talk to the guy until a few days after the debate, after McCain has made the man a focus of part of the platform McCain stands for.

McCain could have owned a piece of the Joe the plumber story if he had sought a conversation with the man prior to the debate. A little more homework would have yielded a little more credibility. Then there's the whole question of manners and the Golden Rule.

If it had been me, instead of Joe, I would have expected a call from the campaign prior to the debate.

Preparedness - that's what nags at me about the McCain campaign. These folks just don't appear to have it all together.

But what of the attack on Joe from the Obama side?

"Why his real name is Samuel Joseph," the frightened and furious strategists screamed!

"He isn't even licensed," the Obama crew yelled.

Here again was the same frantic reaction, personal attack knee jerk that swelled in the Obama camp when Mc- Cain picked Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate. This entitled, don't you dare rain on this parade, slam back is unsettling.

It's the third week in October. Don't folks still get to debate and vote?

And the media - shame on them.

Obama answers a question about taxes using the phrase "spread the wealth around" and the media goes nuts attacking the person who asked the question. Right or wrong, here's Obama, unscripted and candid thoughts regarding the function of taxes. What does the media focus on?

"Joe is his middle, not his first name."

"He's not a member of the union!"

"He owes taxes to the State of Ohio."

You're kidding, right?

From where I sit, Joe got the short shift from both sides.

Duly noted

I was in the bank the other day with my friend Peggy, a feisty senior pushing 90 vibrant years.

We got chatting with the bank manager. In the small world department, it turned out that the gentleman who had Peggy's apartment before her had also banked at this same facility.

"Meanest man I ever met," the bank manager said. And he offered this assessment with such sincerity that you knew it had been true.

What a legacy to leave behind!

The incident reminded me that as we come and go in each others' lives we must be mindful of what we leave behind.