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Joe Wurzelbacher – immortalized during tonight's presidential debate as "Joe The Plumber" – spoke with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric immediately following the debate. John McCain and Barack Obama mentioned Wurzelbacher 26 times during the 90 minute debate. By contrast, Iraq came up six times, and the word "economy" was used sixteen times.

While still on the air, Couric asked Wurzelbacher what he thought of the debate. He said he wasn't swayed wither way, though he seems to be leaning towards one of the candidates.

"I mean I have a pretty good idea who I’m going to vote for but you know that’s my - you know, the nice thing about going into the booth is only me and the lever knows," he said. "I think McCain did a fine job this evening I think he brought up some good points. I do like his health care and I do like his, where he stands on taxes."

The conversation continued on Couric's webcast. Here's the full transcript of that exchange, along with video:

COURIC: We want to go to Joe the plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher from Toledo, Ohio, because Joe is telling me that he's got three live trucks parked outside his house--actually from Holland, Ohio, let me correct that, Joe. Was this a bit of a surreal experience, hearing your name mentioned not once, but twice, but almost half a dozen times during the course of this debate, Joe?

Mr. JOSEPH WURZELBACHER: Yeah, actually, surreal's a good word to use for it. It was--you know, I was glad I was able to act as some type of point, you know, to where they could sit there and hammer out what they both think, what they want to say. But ultimately, you know, the important part was the debate.

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Joe Wurzelbacher – immortalized during tonight's presidential debate as "Joe The Plumber" – spoke with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric shortly after the conclusion of the final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

To get a sense of just how central Wurzelbacher was to the debate, consider this: McCain and Obama mentioned Wurzelbacher 26 times during the 90 minute debate. By contrast, Iraq came up six times, and the word "economy" was used 16 times.

While still on the air, Couric asked Wurzelbacher what he thought of the debate. He said he wasn't swayed either way, though he seems to be leaning towards one of the candidates.

"I mean I have a pretty good idea who I’m going to vote for but you know that’s my - you know, the nice thing about going into the booth is only me and the lever knows," he said. "I think McCain did a fine job this evening, I think he brought up some good points. I do like his health care and I do like his, where he stands on taxes."

The conversation continued on Couric's webcast. Here's the full transcript of that exchange, along with video:

COURIC: We want to go to Joe the plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher from Toledo, Ohio, because Joe is telling me that he's got three live trucks parked outside his house - actually from Holland, Ohio, let me correct that, Joe. Was this a bit of a surreal experience, hearing your name mentioned not once, but twice, but almost half a dozen times during the course of this debate, Joe?

Mr. JOSEPH WURZELBACHER: Yeah, actually, surreal's a good word to use for it. It was - you know, I was glad I was able to act as some type of point, you know, to where they could sit there and hammer out what they both think, what they want to say. But ultimately, you know, the important part was the debate.

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UPDATED WITH FINAL RESULTS As in the previous debates, CBS News and Knowledge Networks have conducted a nationally representative poll of uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's presidential debate.

In the first presidential debate, second presidential debate and vice presidential debate, more uncommitted voters said the Democratic candidate was the victor.

And tonight's results have, by a wide margin, made it a clean sweep. Here are the final results of the survey of 638 uncommitted voters:

Fifty-three percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed identified Democratic nominee Barack Obama as the winner of tonight's debate. Twenty-two percent said Republican rival John McCain won. Twenty-five percent saw the debate as a draw.

Read more from the poll here.

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With less than three weeks now remaining in this marathon presidential election, Barack Obama and John McCain meet tonight for the final presidential debate. It’s a moment when the race appears to be at a tipping point and it couldn’t come at a more crucial point in the campaign. Here are five questions heading into the final showdown:

1. What Can McCain Do? The Republican nominee hinted at an intent to “take the gloves” off and go after Obama on issues of character prior to last week’s debate but that didn’t exactly pan out. Even if the debates have yielded little in the way of personal attacks, the McCain campaign has done little else but talk about Obama’s associations with the likes of William Ayers for the past few weeks.

But that tactic appears to have backfired big-time against McCain as respondents in the new CBS News/New York Times poll cited those attacks as one of the main reasons why more see him unfavorably and, in turn, why he finds himself 14-points behind among likely voters in the poll. Given that, what does McCain do in tonight’s debate? He needs something to turn around the momentum Obama is clearly riding. But if he goes on the attack, it could backfire. If he tries for that out-of-the-blue proposal or pronouncement, it could seem desperate or gimmicky (like his decision to suspend his campaign last month). If he sticks to his campaign talking point, that isn’t likely to change the current dynamic. Is McCain out of debate options?

2. Can Obama Close It Out? Obama won the past two debates according to just about every single measure, and is widely expected to finish up with another “win” tonight. Those expectations could be a problem if the Democratic nominee stumbles in any major way but he’s shown almost no proclivity to do so in the many, many debates he’s been in throughout the past year.

For Obama, it’s an opportunity to clear one more hurdle. Most voters see McCain as better prepared overall to be president and give him higher marks on the Commander-In-Chief issue. So far, focus on the economy has negated those advantages for McCain but it remains one of the only remaining threats to Obama. Another solid performance could help ease any remaining concerns about him the way it has with other presidential candidates in the past, like Ronald Reagan. Can Obama erase those lingering doubts?

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The Open Debate Coalition, an umbrella organization that includes the heads of MoveOn, Wikipedia, Craigslist and other groups, sent a letter today pushing Barack Obama and John McCain to change the rules for the final presidential debate, Politico reports.

This week's second presidential debate was widely criticized, with some going so far as to call it the worst ever. Among the Open Debate Coalition's requests is that "that the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate’s answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions," and that debate questions submitted and selected by the public be posed.

"The signers of this letter don’t agree on every political issue," writes the group. "But we do agree that in order for Americans to make the best decision for president, we need open debates that are 'of the people' in the ways described above. You have the power to make that happen, and we ask you to do so."

Full letter, via Politico, below.

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UPDATED CBS News and Knowledge Networks have, once again, conducted a nationally representative poll of uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's presidential debate.

And this new poll has good news for the Democratic ticket: Just as in the first presidential debate and the vice presidential face off, more uncommitted voters say the Democratic candidate won the debate. (We've updated this post with final numbers.)

Forty percent of the 516 uncommitted voters surveyed identified Barack Obama as tonight's winner; 26 percent said John McCain won, while 34 percent saw the debate as a draw.

After the debate, 68 percent of uncommitted voters said that they think Obama will make the right decisions on the economy, compared to 55 percent who said that before the debate. Fewer thought McCain would do so – 48 percent after the debate, and 41 percent before.

Before the debate, 59 percent thought Obama understands voters’ needs and problems; that rose to 80 percent after the debate. For McCain, 33 percent felt he understands voters’ needs before the debate, and 44 percent thought so afterwards.

There is some good news for McCain, who still dominates Obama when it comes to perceptions of readiness to be president. Before the debate, 42 percent thought Obama was prepared for the job, and that percentage rose to 58 percent after the debate. But 77 percent felt McCain was prepared for the job before the debate, and 83 percent thought so afterwards.

Click here for the complete poll

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Youth Vote '08 correspondents Jason Zone Fisher and Gaby Roman talked with students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville (tonight's debate will be at nearby Belmont University) about what question they'd ask the candidates if they were at the town hall debate. For more campaign coverage from our partners at UWire, check out their Youth Vote ’08 blog:

A lot has happened in the week-and-a-half since the two presidential candidates met in Mississippi for the first of three debates. The looming economic crisis that took a chunk out of what was supposed to be solely a foreign policy and national security debate has deepened despite the bailout both John McCain and Barack Obama supported. Their running mates met in a debate that drew record numbers of viewers (and eclipsed their own encounter ratings-wise). And, more importantly, Obama has opened up a now-solid lead not only in national polling but in the critical state-by-state races where the campaign will be decided. Here are five questions heading into the second debate tonight:

1. Can McCain Score A Win? If the Arizona senator ever needed a debate “victory,” it’s now. The format, a town-hall style event, appears to favor him. Having done hundreds of such events on the campaign trail, he’s much more comfortable being able to range across a stage than standing behind a podium. But it’s going to take more than a change in format for McCain to come out of this debate a winner.

As the campaign has grown increasingly negative over the past few days, Sarah Palin signaled that now is the time to “take the gloves off,” both for herself and her running mate. But, having already demonstrated a level of disdain for Obama in the last debate, McCain risks coming off as angry or mean if he takes after his opponent too aggressively this time out. Fluctuations in the polls indicate that while voters may be making up their minds, there’s still a chance for McCain to swing them. Can he find that combination tonight?

2. Can Obama Play From Ahead? The stakes may be higher for Obama than McCain. As the clear front-runner, he needs to be mistake-free and continue to “look presidential” in order to preserve his lead and further tighten down those voters who may be open to changing their minds in the next month.

If there is a political weakness to Obama’s campaign it’s been an inability to close – or at least to keep pushing when he has his opponent on the ropes. With a huge advantage in primaries, having won a series of contests in February that almost locked up the nomination early, Obama was soundly beaten in some very big and important states through the spring and ended up stumbling across the finish line in a political sense. During the summer, as Obama was basking in the applause of 200,000 Germans, McCain was chipping away at his lead, energizing his conservative base and pulling even. Can Obama start closing the deal?

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Nielsen has released preliminary ratings for last night's vice presidential debate, and they suggest higher interest in the debate between the prospective veeps than in last week's debate involving the men at the top of the ticket.

The combined overall household rating for last night's face-off in 55 of the 56 local television markets was 45.0 – compared to 31.6 for the Obama-McCain debate. A rating point equals one percent of the total TV audience.

Notes Nielsen: "The Baltimore market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 59.1, while the Los Angeles market had the lowest household rating: 34.4."

National ratings will be released later this afternoon; if they follow the local ratings, the Biden-Palin debate will be one of the most watched in history.