Biden and Clemmons - Walk A Day In My Shoes 2008

Sen. Joe Biden Walks in the Shoes of School Custodian Marshall Clemons in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

© Benjamin Roberts - Sen. Joe Biden walked a day in the shoes of school custodian Marshall Clemons.

As the sixth presidential candidate to “walk a day in the shoes” of an SEIU member, Senator Joe Biden on August 30th experienced firsthand what life is like for middle school custodian Marshall Clemons.

Biden joined Clemons during his job as head building engineer at Harding Middle School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he helped to rebuild a boiler and perform other maintenance tasks.

After work, the two traveled to Clemons’s home where they had dinner with Clemons’s girlfriend, Stephanie Lewis, and her two teenage children.

Clemons has been working as a custodian in Iowa for 16 years. He spent three years early in his career at Harding Middle School, and returned just a few weeks ago when he was hired in the top custodial position.

Marshall Clemons: “The next president needs to work to fix our health care and education challenges. We need to make sure that all our children get the education they deserve and that everyone in America gets the health care they need.

“I’m glad that Senator Biden got to walk a day in my shoes. Ordinary people work hard every day to keep our schools running, and it’s important that he sees that first hand. I hope that when he talks about what schools need to succeed, he thinks about the work we do at Harding.”

- Watch SEIU’s video on YouTube
- See more photos on Flickr
- Read Clemons’s reaction to the time he spent with Sen. Biden
- Read the press release
- Check out Des Moines Register news coverage

- Tell the candidates about life in your shoes

All Candidates Invited to Walk A Day in a Member’s Shoes
“Walk a Day in My Shoes” is about making sure politicians truly know what the real world is like for the rest of us. SEIU members are inviting all candidates for political office to spend time in our lives, accompanying us on the job and spending time at home with our families.