TORONTO - Howard Hampton never came right out and said it, but it was clear from the outset he wasn't expecting voters to make him Ontario's next premier.

He was, however, expecting to make more of an impact than he did.

To anyone able to read between the lines whenever Hampton spoke over the course of the 30-day campaign, it was obvious he had a specific, if more modest, goal in mind: the balance of power in a minority government.

Long consigned to a supporting role in the legislature as the leader of a single-digit caucus, Hampton hit the campaign trail brimming with confidence that the New Democrats would win more power and influence than they had enjoyed since forming the government in 1990.

But as the weeks went by and the campaign failed to capture the public's imagination, a frustrated Hampton pointed his finger squarely at Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory's controversial religious-school funding proposal - and the media, who let it dominate the campaign agenda.

"All I've heard from the media is that you want to talk about faith-based schools. There are real issues out there,'' a furious Hampton bellowed during a campaign stop in Hamilton, after he'd been asked one too many questions about his own political future.

His frustration might have been fuelled by a newspaper report that day documenting the abysmal care of elderly residents in the province's nursing homes, some of whom were reportedly being left to languish for hours in diapers heavy with urine.

"We've become the child poverty capital of Canada - don't any of you people care? Don't you care that there are seniors living in soiled diapers? Don't you care about that?''

The outburst belied what has traditionally been Hampton's measured and philosophical attitude towards the lack of attention that's usually paid the third party.

Early on in the campaign, he recalled a warning from predecessor Stephen Lewis, who led the party in the 1970s before going on to become Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and a UN envoy for AIDS in Africa.

"I remember (him) once saying, `If you're a New Democrat, get used to the idea that you'll have to work twice as hard,' and he was right - you do,'' Hampton said.

Hampton is respected by working-class voters because he's just like them - a parent with two kids who juggles a busy work schedule and a long commute while still finding time to watch his kids play hockey, said wife Shelley Martel, who is stepping down from provincial politics after 20 years in the legislature.

He's a genuine, committed guy who works as much as 15 hours a day, seven days a week, to raise the issues that are important to "working families,'' Martel said.

"It's all a lot of hard work, but it's one of the reasons why he is very popular,'' she said. "It's a challenge that's not unlike other challenges working families are facing.''

Party strategists took comfort in Hampton's outburst, which they say offered voters across the province a close look at their leader's true, unvarnished character and provided some insight into why he's always been so popular in northern Ontario.

Interestingly, the incident secured him front-page coverage and allowed voters and political observers to identify with his complaints about the campaign's one-dimensional focus.

But as hard as he tried to get the media to focus on other issues, Hampton could only watch helplessly as faith-based schools dominated the campaign day after day and the Conservatives sank in the polls, crippling his dream of a minority government.

The NDP relished the spotlight, but Hampton's closeup only lasted a day - the inevitable plight of the third party, said Robert Drummond, the dean of arts at York University.

"It's disturbing to political scientists, but if you actually go out and ask voters, `Do you know who the current leader of the NDP is,' you'd be surprised how many people won't know,'' Drummond said.

"Moreover, if you simply ask people who Howard Hampton is, I'm not sure that most voters will remember who he is - and it will be worse outside the major cities.''

Now, on the eve of an election that's expected to hand the NDP another single-digit showing, the requisite questions about his future are again being asked.

At the outset, Hampton insisted he had the energy and the intention to lead the party for another four years.

"I'm still a very young guy, I've got lots more to contribute and I have the energy and the commitment that you need in order to continue doing this work,'' he said in an interview.

But as the campaign wore on, he mused openly about whether to step aside if the Liberals formed another majority and the party didn't make significant gains.

"I like doing this work,'' Hampton said during a televised interview. "After every election, though, you sit down and think about it. I'm not making any promises either way.''

To his credit, Hampton still retained his optimism - or at least the facade of hope - up to the very last day of the campaign.

He insisted he could convince voters to give the NDP a dramatic come-from-behind victory, not so much in the form of an NDP government, but at least in terms of pushing the government into doing more for "working families.''

Hampton said he was encouraged by the four of 10 byelections the NDP won since 2003, which were surprising victories that few had expected.

"Three of those (byelection) seats were supposed to have been among the safest Liberal seats in the province,'' he said. "And yet people heard our message and responded to our message, so that's a good sign for us.''