Thrust into the national spotlight as fodder for Republican attacks on Barack Obama, one might be forgiven for assuming that Joe Wurzelbacher, the unwitting star of last night’s presidential debate, was a die-hard McCain supporter.

But Mr Wurzelbacher, now known to the nation in his new political incarnation “Joe the Plumber”, was being surprisingly coy today about who would receive his vote on November 4.

“That’s for me and a button to know,” he told reporters outside his home in Toledo, Ohio. The 34-year-old was sparing in his praise for both candidates, saying that Mr McCain was a “pretty solid individual, but he is a politician too” and that Mr Obama was eloquent but his actions “had me a little worried”.

Mr Wurzelbacher’s story was seized upon by the Republican presidential nominee after he confronted Mr Obama about his tax plans.

In an encounter broadcast across America, the plumber contested the Democrat’s plan to raise taxes on those earning over $250,000 a year, claiming it could scupper his chances of buying the business he currently worked for.

But the unassuming, quiet-spoken man could not have imagined that he would become a national emblem for the American worker, a political football in the ongoing battle to win over the so-called Reagan Democrats who could decide the presidency.

At the crucial New York debate, the last before voters head to the polls, Mr Wurzelbacher was invoked no less than 26 times in 90 minutes as the candidates sparred over the impact of their various tax policies on ordinary Americans.

The experience, he said, was “surreal” but welcome.

“I’m just glad that I could be used to get some points across, hopefully it’ll make some other Americans go out and really look into the issues and find out for themselves,” he said.

Mr Wurzelbacher said he had made up his mind who to vote for some time ago but would not be drawn on his choice. But while he praised Mr McCain as a “real American hero”, he expressed concern that Mr Obama would usher in a “socialist society”.

“I think John McCain did a fine job, I think he did much better than his first two debates, he stuck to his guns and did fine,” he said.

“Barack Obama always speaks eloquently but the problem with that is that there are a lot of people out there who speak real nice, but you’ve got to watch the actions, actions are what tells you what a man’s going to do and actions on his part had me a little worried.”

He continued: “McCain’s a real American hero, this man went to war for us, was a prisoner of war, some of things he did for us, he’s a pretty solid individual. But he is a politician too so you’ve got to take that into account as well.”

The plumber acknowledged that he was “not even close” to making the $250,000 a year which could see him paying higher taxes under the Obama plan.

But he said he still hoped the tax increase would not be implemented, adding: “I want to see this country remain a democracy and not a socialist society.”

In the end, Joe the Plumber may also be a fitting symbol for the ideological battle raging in a tumultuous America - the victorious candidate will have to prove that his is the vision to bring economic security and prosperity in an uncertain age.

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