Joe the Plumber was apparently close to landing a TV commercial deal after his debut in the recent national debate. Ad execs tried to convince plumbing service Roto-Rooter to hire him.

Roto-Rooter turned down the idea, saying it was getting so many calls from media around the country looking for Roto-Rooter plumbers named Joe it didn't need the extra exposure.

Other plumbers named Joe are taking advantage of the unusual spotlight too. A lucky plumber in Texas has the domain name for joetheplumber.com. And then there's Ventura County plumber Joe Lara, pictured at right, whose site pops up in a google search for "Joe the Plumber."