SEIU Nursing Assistant Will Be In Town Hall Audience, Ready To Ask John McCain Why He Won't Provide Affordable Healthcare For All

SEIU Members Continue Stepped Up Effort to Educate Voters on Difference Between Obama and McCain Healthcare Plans

Washington, D.C.--Asthe presidential candidates come on stage tonight for the secondpresidential debate, Jean Berg, a nursing assistant and member of SEIUHealthcare Florida, will be in the audience, waiting to ask John McCainwhy he wants to tax healthcare benefits and make it harder for familiesto afford coverage.

Berg has been a nursing assistant for nearly 28 years and has never had healthcare.

"It's the single biggest economicfactor in my life," says Berg. "I can't afford the coverage I need andif I get sick I'm afraid I'll lose everything."

"I never voted before because I neverthought it mattered," added Berg. "But John McCain seems to want tomake it harder for people like me to get health care. He wants to takeus backwards and I can't afford another president who puts me on thebottom of their priority list."

Berg is one of more than 1,000 SEIUmembers across the country taking time off to elect Barack Obama and aCongress that will make healthcare a priority. And another 100,000nurses, janitors, child care providers, and other workers are joiningher on evenings and weekends to win on Election Day.

SEIU members are stepping up theirefforts on the air, on the doors, and in the mail to educate voters onthe difference between the Obama and McCain healthcare plans. OnFriday, the Associated Press reported that while votersprefer Barack Obama's health care plan to John McCain's, manyvoters--particularly independents and seniors--do not have a clearunderstanding of the differences between the two proposals. Recently,SEIU members:

Released a new ad in key battleground states on the difference between the two plans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4_M2bvQrY8);
Mailed DVDs to more than 250,000 households in battleground states on John McCain's disastrous healthcare plan;
Helpedhost dozens of press conferences highlighting how McCain's health careplan would impact key groups, such as women and veterans;
Promoted a new state-by-state analysis of McCain's proposal with the Center for American Progress; and
Distributed a new side-by-side on healthcare to voters across the country.

SEIU also hosted the first issueforum of the presidential campaign to focus on healthcare and launchedthe Road to Healthcare bus tour which traveled 8500 miles and heldevents in 17 states. Senator Barack Obama and six other candidates andelected officials across the country walked a day in the shoes ofhealthcare workers.

SEIU Executive Vice President EliseoMedina will also be attending the town hall debate and will beavailable to talk to the media.

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