Move over, Britney

Officials of his local plumbing union, which has endorsed Obama, say he falsely claims to be a union member. "His MySpace page uses the logo of our local from Columbus," said Thomas Joseph, business manager of Local 50 of the United Assn. of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry in northwestern Ohio. "My phone's been ringing nonstop today with union members, friends, family, everyone asking the same thing: 'Who is this guy? Is he Joe the Fake Plumber?' "

Joseph was doubtful that Newell Plumbing & Heating generates $250,000 a year.

"There's no way that Al's business is worth that much," he said. "We all know Al. He's licensed. He's a regular guy. But Al runs his business out of the garage that's behind his house. It's small."

Joseph said Newell worked mostly in the residential market. "He does the service work. Even his ads in the yellow pages say that: I'll replace your toilet; I'll fix your leaky faucet. He doesn't do anything big on that scale."

(Does our heart go out to Al Newell for this intrusion? Yes, it does.)

Cheryl Schimming, a permit specialist for the Lucas County Building Regulations Department, which licenses plumbers, confirmed that Wurzelbacher does not have a license but that Newell does hold an Ohio license. But Wurzelbacher told reporters, and Schimming agreed, that because he works for a licensed plumber, he is not required to have one.

Joseph said that Wurzelbacher applied for a plumber's apprentice training program in 2003 and took adult education classes. He said Wurzelbacher never finished the program and never received a license from the city of Toledo or Lucas County.

Wurzelbacher wasn't the only Shrewsbury Street resident to feel the intense media attention. His next-door neighbor, Audrey Koenig, said TV stations began calling at 10 p.m. Wednesday -- mid-debate -- and never stopped. "The TV trucks were out there all night," she said. "They turned those spotlights on at 5:30 this morning and woke me up. The whole neighborhood is going crazy. I feel like I'm trapped inside my house."

She defended her neighbor.

"He'll always drop whatever he's doing to help you out. Joe is one terrific person," said Koenig, who said he is known on the block as Mr. Fix-It. "He just did some plumbing work for me. I had a pipe burst and there was water gushing everywhere. My daughter was sitting here and said, 'I'll go get Joe.' "