Presidential Candidate Obama Promotes Importance of Home Health Workers After Participating in SEIU 'Walk a Day in My Shoes' Campaign
AP/Houston Chronicle
OAKLAND, Calif. — With a television crew and photographers in tow, Obama spent Wednesday morning mopping floors, cleaning cobwebs and preparing breakfast for an 86-year-old amputee while he accompanied a home health care worker on her daily duties.
A day on the job has become a new ritual of the Democratic presidential campaign this year, after the powerful 1.9-million-member Service Employees International Union demanded that candidates "Walk a Day in My Shoes" with a union member in order to be considered for endorsement.
On Wednesday, it was the Illinois senator's turn. Obama joined 61-year-old Pauline Beck as she cared for John Thornton, a retired cement mason and widower who lives in a low-income neighborhood of Oakland.
"I'm not going to lie to you. It's been awhile," Obama said, after mopping the kitchen and bathrooms.
Obama took the opportunity to promote the importance of home health care workers and paid sick leave and vacation for service workers, benefits Beck said she does not receive.
The next candidate scheduled for time on the job with a union member is Clinton, who is to accompany a nurse in Las Vegas.
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