Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to spend a day as a nurse in an attempt to win backing from the powerhouse Service Employees International Union, which represents 1.8 million nurses, janitors and service employees.
Clinton joins ex-vice-presidential candidate John Edwards, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in taking the union up on its member-for-a-day offer. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is also expected to accept. Apart from Clinton, none of the candidates has yet requested a particular job. No date has been set for any of the hopefuls.
“Nurses play a vital role in our society and Senator Clinton has been a vocal advocate for them for many years,” said her spokesman Blake Zeff. Said SEIU spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller: “We obviously would love for the candidates to spend the entire day with the worker — a few hours on the job and a few hours in the home of the member. We really want them to spend some time around the kitchen table and even pick up the kids up at school.”
--Glenn Thrush in Washington