The story of Joe the Plumber -- Joe Wurzelbacher of Toledo, Ohio, suburb of Springfield Township -- became a centerpiece of the early minutes of the presidential debate last night.

And Joe the Plumber became the subject of national and international interest.

Mr. Wurzelbacher, 34, was more interested in taking in the debate than in assessing his place in presidential politics.

"Honestly, I'm a small part of it," Mr. Wurzelbacher said. "They're just using me as an example right now for the American public. I think they're discussing more important issues."

He excused himself so he could finish watching Barack Obama and John McCain debate.

But after the debate, Mr. Wurzelbacher expressed some embarrassment that he was now known across America as Joe the Plumber.

"There's a lot more important issues than me, and I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable with it," he said. "Everyone's more worried about what Joe the Plumber has to say than what Obama or McCain has to say."

While watching the debate at home with his father, he was interrupted several times by calls from the national media including CNN, Fox News and "Good Morning America." In addition, CNBC, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, The Houston Chronicle and the BBC called The Blade in their quest to reach Joe the Plumber.

Mr. Wurzelbacher and Mr. Obama had something of a debate Sunday as the candidate walked house to house on Shrewsbury at the start of the candidate's three-day stay in the Toledo area.

He told Mr. Obama that he was trying to buy a plumbing business.

"I'm being taxed more and more for fulfilling the American dream," Mr. Wurzelbacher said Sunday.

Mr. Obama said, in part, "It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success, too.

"I think that when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

The exchange was caught on videotape and was broadcast on a variety of news outlets and put on numerous Web sites, including YouTube.

It was the "spread the wealth around" comment that caught the attention of conservative commentators, including Rush Limbaugh, and in discussions on the Internet. Mr. Wurzelbacher was a guest of Fox News' Neil Cavuto on Tuesday.

During the debate, Mr. McCain challenged Mr. Obama: "Joe wants to buy the business that he has been in for all of these years, worked 10, 12 hours a day. And he wanted to buy the business, but he looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes."

"You were going to put him in a higher tax bracket which was going to increase his taxes, which was going to cause him not to be able to employ people, which Joe was trying to realize the American dream," Mr. McCain said.

Mr. McCain then looked directly into the television camera and said: "Joe, I want to tell you, I'll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees. And I will not stand for a tax increase on small-business income."

Mr. Obama denied that was true.

"Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000, but I also want to give them additional tax breaks because they are the drivers of the economy," Mr. Obama said. "They produce the most jobs."

Mr. Wurzelbacher came up again when the debate turned to a discussion of health-care policies.

Mr. McCain charged that Mr. Obama's plan would fine the company Mr. Wurzelbacher wanted to buy; Mr. Obama said small businesses were exempt.

"Hey Joe, you're rich. Congratulations," Mr. McCain said mockingly.

Mr. Obama didn't win Mr. Wurzelbacher's support on Sunday, and he didn't change his mind last night.

He did allow, "Obama, you can't take away that he's a damn good speaker."

Overall, though, Mr. Wurzelbacher was pleased with Mr. McCain's performance.

"McCain was doing much better this time," he said. "McCain came across with some solid points. I like his tax cuts."

But he said Mr. Obama's health-care plan scares him.

"It's just one step closer to socialism," he said.

He said he hopes both candidates will talk about family and family values before the November election because problems like education and senior health care should come back to families taking care of each other.

"Sense of family has to be brought back," Mr. Wurzelbacher said.

He added: "I believe there was too much emphasis put on me. The debate was more important."