IT WAS hardly a ringing vote of endorsement. Even the father of John McCain's talismanic supporter, Joe the Plumber, was pessimistic about the Republican candidate's chances of reaching the White House as the US went to the polls yesterday.
"I have no confidence whatsoever," Frank Wurzelbacher said, leaning on his car outside the family bungalow on a leafy residential street. "I just hope and pray."
The working-class town of Holland, on the outskirts of Toledo's industrial sprawl, has taken a prominent spot on the political map thanks to Frank's son, Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, who confronted Barack Obama about his tax-raising plans in one of the defining moments of the presidential election.
Wurzelbacher was adopted by the McCain campaign as the epitome of hard-working, aspirational America and was whisked off to appear at rallies across the nation.
"I wouldn't say it's been fun," says Joe's father. "It's been stressful. We're boring people. I'm not much of a party kind of a person. The word 'strange' doesn't begin to say what this has been like."
Not everybody is enamoured of the town's newly famous plumber. Angela Zimmann, a 35-year-old university teacher, said she was voting for Obama. "I feel like Joe the Plumber has a lot in common with Sarah Palin," she said. "He's someone who's not necessarily educated for a position or experienced, but who says something that the Republicans can grab hold of."
Others were more sympathetic. Shelly Lynch, a petrol station clerk who knows Wurzelbacher as a customer, said: "I understand where he's coming from. Obama's plans are going to make things impossible for small business owners." At the root of Wurzelbacher's gripe was that he hoped to buy his former employer's plumbing business. He claimed that Obama's plan to raise taxes for those earning more than $250,000 would make this difficult.
In the local sports bar, Ralphie's, part-time barman Matt Hoover is a plumber who trained with Wurzelbacher. He is sceptical of his peer's claim.
"He was a bit arrogant," recalls Hoover, who recalls that even when Wurzelbacher was still learning his trade, he was insisting he was set to buy his employer's company. "He's been saying that for years and he's never done it." - ( Guardian service)