The young men at the Mechanics Social Club in Lurgan rush on to the street when they spy the Rev Ian Paisley passing by. They've been drinking since they finished work and they're full of cheek.
"Come on in for a pint, Ian," they shout at the teetotalling DUP leader. "Are you trying to tempt me with the devil's buttermilk?" thunders Dr Paisley. The lads look worried but then the Big Man breaks into guffaws of laughter and soon he's handing out election leaflets and joining in the banter.
Dressed in a white linen suit with a Union Jack tie and a "Jesus is Lord" badge, he cuts a striking figure as he strides through the town centre.
At 75, he's the North's oldest political leader but few would dare suggest a move to more peaceful pastures.
"Retire?" he bellows when The Irish Times gently inquires if this could be his last election. "I love elections. Even if I wasn't standing myself, I'd be on the campaign trail. What else would I do?"
There have been false but persistent rumours that he's suffering from cancer. He blames these on his political opponents. He's working a 12-hour day and says he has never felt better.
He is particularly enjoying the canvass in Lurgan - the heartland of David Trimble's Upper Bann constituency.
Dr Paisley is standing in North Antrim, but so huge is his majority that he hardly needs to campaign there.
He is in Upper Bann to help the local DUP candidate, who hopes to unseat Mr Trimble.
"What's it like being in David Trimble country?" asks a reporter. "David Trimble doesn't have a country," thunders Dr Paisley.
"He's an exile. If he belongs anywhere, it's Dublin. He represents this constituency in name only. He can't even walk the streets freely any more."
The DUP claims local people are so angry with the Ulster Unionist leader's compromises that he needs the protection of up to 40 RUC officers when venturing into town centres. Mr Trimble's campaign is "very sun-dried tomato", according to a DUP canvasser.
"It's telephone canvassing and visiting only carefully chosen houses and upper-class areas."
Former UUP councillor Jonathan Bell signed Mr Trimble's nomination papers for the last Westminster election. He has since defected to the DUP.
"Campaigning for David was very different. David was never at ease with the ordinary 5-8. You had to push him into shops to talk to people. You can't keep Ian away from them," Mr Bell said.
"Come on in Ian and see our wee shop," shouts a woman in a gift store and Dr Paisley is soon touring the premises. At every door, there is a friendly face and outstretched arm.
"May God bless you Ian," says an old man with no teeth and a blackthorn stick. "Well, He's been doing it a long time, and I don't think He will give up on me now," replies Dr Paisley. He certainly approves of five-month-old Sophie Kinkaid. "She's got her fist raised in the air - that's the spirit I like!" he tells her mother.
An RTE cameraman, who is filming Dr Paisley approaching a box of apples at a fruit-and-veg shop, is told he is focusing on the wrong fruit.
"My friend, this is what you need," he says, holding up an orange.
"Here is some bedside reading, ladies," says the DUP leader as he distributes election leaflets to a group of women. There's a twinkle in his eye as he tells them to give his party "the kiss of life" on June 7th.
Much to his political opponents' delight, he recently denounced line-dancing as dangerously sexual and sinful. Would he accept a vote from a line-dancer?
"Of course, I would. It's only one sort of line-dancing that concerns me in this election - the political line-dancing of David Trimble to Gerry Adams's tune."