Joe the Plumber says John McCain 'screwed up my life'

"I don't owe him ****," Sam Wurzelbacher – Joe's real name – told a US radio reporter when asked about Mr McCain. "He really screwed up my life, is how I look at it."

Mr Wurzelbacher was thrust into the international spotlight when Mr McCain made repeated reference to him during one of the televised presidential debates. The two men had met days before and Mr Wurzelbacher had voiced fears about likely tax increases if Barack Obama were to become president.

But the unexpected notoriety caused him instant problems, with reports the next day that he practised plumbing without a licence.

Mr Wurzelbacher has no illusions about Mr McCain's motivations. "McCain was trying to use me," he told Scott Detrow, the reporter. "I happened to be the face of middle Americans. It was a ploy."