Reporting from Cornville, Ariz. -- We bumped into each other at the KC Korner, a little crossroads market in this western Arizona farm town. I'd gone there to ask for directions to Sen. John McCain's ranch -- a secluded 7-acre spread that, had the election gone differently, would have served as the Western White House.
He was there to buy a pack of Marlboros, a young man, dressed in T-shirt, jeans and scuffed boots, with a cellphone and folded knife on his belt.
He introduced himself as Justin Pettijohn, said he'd spent most of his 36 years around here, frequently stalked game in the brush-covered hills overlooking the McCain place and had bid for jobs at the homes of some of the senator's neighbors.
What kind of work do you do?
"I'm a plumber," Pettijohn said, handing over a card that promised: "If water runs through it, we'll do it."
So, I said, that makes you Justin the Plumber?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-moment16-2008dec16,0,4591105.storyJustin Pettijohn voted for Obama, which isn't something he tells people -- after all, he lives in McCain's home state. But business has been bad, and 'a little change couldn't hurt.'