Candidate Edwards Reports to Work With New York Nurse Aide

April 12, 2007 — -- It's a little after 5:30 a.m. and John Edwards is sitting down to have breakfast. There are no newspapers to be read, no campaign schedules to go through, but there is an agenda.

Edwards is seated beside Elaine Ellis in her small New Rochelle, N.Y. apartment and the two of them are about to leave for work. Ellis earns $14 an hour as a nurse aide. It is not long before the two are in Ellis' car on their way to a nursing home in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

By 6:30 a.m. the presidential candidate is shaving 83-year-old Irving Zywotow 's face. It's a role normally held by Ellis, but on this day, it's Edwards' job.

Edwards participated in the "Walk a Day in My Shoes" program, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union. The powerful union has invited presidential candidates to see what life is like for working Americans. Edwards was the first to oblige and Ellis quickly found out that he wasn't in uncharted territory with this assignment.

"When I was in college in South Carolina I lived with my grandmother and my grandfather was in a rest home and we would go over and take care of him," said Edwards. He said he often helped with shaving, showering and changing clothes. Now, he's doing it all again on the campaign trail.

Edwards has come dressed for the occasion in jeans and, ironically, a blue collar shirt.

Many of the seniors had troubling identifying the former senator, but he was eager to help jog their memory.

"Remember the last presidential election in 2004? Kerry and Edwards? I'm Edwards. I'm running for president this time," he told Zywotow.

For the residents at the Sharon Neuman Nursing Home, Ellis' face is far more familiar. The divorced mother who's raised four children on her salary has been employed with the home for 18 years, and doesn't like to miss a day.

"When they say 'I missed you yesterday' that means a lot to me," said Ellis.

Ellis, a union activist, said she was impressed with Edwards' enthusiasm.