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Yeah, mhm Mm. It took him 100 jobs to get the job he wanted. And when he got that job, he kept working a new one every month just to keep the one he held. That's been a winning formula for Bob Graham. Florida's senior US senator and former governor.

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Bob Graham literally worked his way to the governorship. His workday program took him from a relatively unknown state senator to governor of America's fourth largest state. During the campaign for governor, he promised he would work 100 different jobs to show that he was really serious about understanding the needs of the people.

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The Work Day program attracted a lot of attention and propelled him past several better known Democratic candidates and into the 1978 general election, where he faced drugstore legend Republican Jack Eckerd. Eckert even tried to copy the workday program pumping gas one day, but it was too late.

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Bob Graham took the governorship in a landslide and then went on after eight years to run for Senate on the same strategy, work a different job every month. He beat incumbent Senator Republican Paula Hawkins in 1986 and is now serving in his second term as Florida's senior US senator.

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Recently, on a hot summer day in Tallahassee, Bob Graham marked an important anniversary. It was his 3/100 workday, 21 years after he started. His first job was as a teacher in Dade County. On his 100 he cleaned toilet bowls, took care of the kids and cleaned house as a homemaker in Tampa.

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In our number 200 he worked as a park ranger in Homestead for number 300. He was a worker for public. He started his day early in Jacksonville, loading a truck with food products, and then rode with the truck's driver to Tallahassee and helped unload what he had loaded.

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Bob Graham has done just about every conceivable job you can imagine in just about every city in Florida. He's worked in a cafeteria, wielded a chainsaw in the pine forest, spent a day as an immigration inspector and worked as a cop On the beat. In Tallahassee, he scooped manure in Ocala, picked up garbage in Tampa and clean mullet in Niceville.

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He's been a Citrus packer and picked oranges in central Florida. He's a real life Walter Mitty that has taken a political strategy and turned it into an important part of his daily life As a statewide politician. His staff has categorized all of the work days into types of jobs and how many he's done in each area.

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Today, Sunshine Network takes an in depth look at Bob Graham's 3/100 workday. We also talked to Bob Graham about several issues and how the workdays affect how he votes in Washington. And later on in the show, we ask a question of Bob Graham that's swirling around the state.

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Are you planning to run for governor again in 1998? But first we take you to Tallahassee and Bob Graham's 300 workday. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, that's the driver. Right? Then what's the car companies that he drives? Okay. Mhm, Right. Hey, sweetheart, you doing my dear? Okay. Treat them with this big truck.

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Have you ever been in a truck as big as this? Yeah, Look, Mhm. Florida's senior senator and former two term governor was asked how the ride was from Jacksonville. It was great. We had had a wonderful driver. Nobody was hurt. We got here safely. All the food is ready to uh, to be unloaded.

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How many people going to help us, uh, unload what made him choose publics for a job number 300? Well, public's is a company which very much represents Florida. It's a company that started in Florida and that has its home here. Uh, so I was happy to do the 300 workday, Uh, and to be able to to load it up in Jacksonville, bring it over here in Tallahassee and, uh, we're gonna celebrate.

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Graham had invited the public to help him mark his 3/100 workday with ice cream and cake, but the celebration would have to wait until the workday was done. The work back in the warehouse pretty hard, loading his truck. You'll see what we put in it. Now we're going to take it out.

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And I had a wonderful time driving over with Earl and learned a lot about what's going on in the life of his family and lots of other Florida families. Graham also learned something special about how his coworker views truck driving. Earl refers to this trailer as being his child.

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He said it's like a child at a department store who is, uh, trying to pull things off the shelf, bump into other people, and it's your job to get your child home without causing any trouble. And so we are delivering our child trouble free. Grimm has worked some tough jobs hauling fertilizer, picking tomatoes, sweating in a paper mill, and now he can compare that experience to truck driving.

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It's hard. Vary with a great deal of responsibility. Uh, it kind of breeds a person, or it takes a person with a lot of, uh, Independence, uh, ingenuity, uh, ability to take care of whatever unexpected problems might develop. Graham usually gets asked a lot of questions by the media.

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When he arrives on the job, he tries his best to get his work done before he gets too many questions. Turning on the light up at night, Senator Graham gets a little instruction, and then we'll send it right in the center of the truck. Goes back.

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Even all the Children they want to put this on the center. Things won't move anyway. Hello? Handling was Well, it's not very all right. Is that uh that's okay. Hell, it's not gonna strangle. We got the Boehner are okay. Yeah. Is that it? That was it.

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Grams. 3/100 Workday was over. Now it was time to joke a little with his co worker, Earl Lightner, who drove the truck from Jacksonville. Earl. I told him to put every damn thing they could on that truck. You told me you got paid for all. That's it.

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And we split your salary. I want to get Let's start with this big and we'll go to the other side. Let them load some oyster. Did you ask me if they could run a copy of that sheet? I'd like to. I'd like to have a copy of that for a souvenir record to saying the top off the son of the lunch.

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And I got an autograph ticket in my pocket. How much was the lunch? $7. I'm following my taxes to Right, Right. Uhh! Earl has a politician bought and paid for and he's got a sign of the show. The bomb? Never. He wanted to catch the lunch blesses.

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How many times will I ever be say I bought a senator lunch so him by would not be the same. I bought Senator lunch. I got an autograph taking my plucking Fruit Grams co worker is a Republican and enjoys listening to Rush Limbaugh's talk show. Does Graham, a Democrat, have rules?

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Vote? I'll say yes right now, but with Earl, you got to earn it every day. He's checking on you all the time. What did Graham and Earl Lightner talk about on the 180 mile trip from Jacksonville to Tallahassee? Well, we talked about everything from the flat tax to the Civil War two schools.

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We talked about Earl's Navy career. We talked about playing the guitar, which is which is something that early learned to do in junior high school. And I've been trying to learn for 58 years. I almost I wouldn't quite say that I got him to commit to give me some lessons, but I'm gonna push him on that.

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Whether Senator Graham will get those guitar lessons or not, he clearly had a good time on work Day 300. We'll be right back to talk to the senator about his work days and what impact they have on his life in Washington. We'll also ask him whether the rumor is true that Senator Graham might just be thinking of running for governor again in 1998.

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Follow that. When Governor Graeme finished his 3/100 workday in Tallahassee, he celebrated it along with the public. It was a birthday party atmosphere with cake, ice cream and lots of fun. Now, who is this young lady? Hi, Shelly. How many girls do you have them? Okay, a baby over here.

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What would like to meet you? Oh, good. Hello. Hi. Who is this young American? Hello, Nicholas. Uh, could I give Nicholas aqueous? Uh, politicians always kiss. Hello, Nicholas. Uh huh. Nicholas Jealous? Nicholas, did you see my granddaughter around here? Yes. Yes, we have another one. That's how does Nicholas?

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Well, we have. So Nicholas was born. What? We have three who were born on March the 30th. Our daughter had Tripoli. Senator Graham's workdays usually get a large amount of publicity. The fact is, people are still interested in why a seasoned politician like Graham, who serves in the most exclusive legislative body in the world, continues to do what people once called a political gimmick.

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Well, there's an old There's an old Indian habit. When you meet someone for the first time, you walk around them so that you can see the world as they see it. From their perspective, in some ways, these workdays are a way of walking around people so that you can experience some of what they experience and get, uh, inside, uh, their values and the way in which they would like the world to unfold.

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That's been a valuable perspective for me then my responsibility, which is to represent all of those people and their views and to try to make government be responsive to their desire. Senator Graham built his reputation in Tallahassee, both in the Florida Legislature and as governor. He is now serving his eighth year as a US senator.

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We asked him if any of the rumors are true that he might leave the Senate in 1998 and run again for governor when Governor Law and Child's final term is over. Just two years ago, the people of Florida gave me a great honor of the chance to represent them again in the United States Senate.

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I'm working very hard to try to be faithful to that obligation, and I haven't found very much time left over to fantasize about things that aren't going to happen until 1998. Graham is now in Washington working on several controversial issues such as welfare reform and potential Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks.

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We asked him about several of those issues before he left the work side at Publix. Mm, yeah, yes. Well, as an example, the job I did on Wednesday was at one of the two welfare demonstration sites in Florida, this one in Pensacola. And, uh, I got a lot of ideas and insights from that.

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I'm going to take back when we start our next round of hearings on welfare. Earlier this year, I had a job with the U. S. Attorney's office in Miami with their Medicare fraud unit, and we are now developing legislation based on the, uh, insights from that work day to, uh, increase the ability of the federal government to avoid, uh, fraud in the first place and then to apprehend and, uh, suppress it when it occurs.

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Well, the Senate hasn't had the revolution. The House dead for a number of reasons. The the Senate was in Republican control for six years in the early eighties, so it's not such a new phenomenon. Uh, Senate with only 100 members is, by its nature, more collegial.

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Uh, and the Senate rules, particularly the ability to filibuster and 60 votes to break a filibuster, requires that most items be reasonably bipartisan in order to pass. So we haven't had the big change that the House of Representatives has had. Mhm my number one goal for Florida's to see that Florida is treated fairly in what will be a reduced level of federal programs.

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Uh, I recognize that we've got to cut spending and or to balance the budget, but that reduction of spending should be fair. Florida, uh, for instance, through the block grants on welfare and Medicaid and some of the proposals and Medicare would, in my opinion, be asked to pay much more than its fair share, and to avoid that, it's going to be one of my primary bills.

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I think that they, uh, they need to be New Democrats, which recognize, uh, the fact that government is not the only way in which problems that people are going to be solved. There are many fundamental areas that are outside the ability of government control, particularly issues that relate to the family.

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Uh, second where government does have a role, it needs to be efficient and accountable for what it does and that government needs a general proposition, uh, to put decisions as close to the people as they're going to be affected as possible. Today, I learned something about things like, uh, highway safety, how some of the federal laws on safety, particularly for commercial trucks, are operating.

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Two days ago, I worked at welfare agency in Pensacola, which will be very valuable in terms of the upcoming debate on welfare reform. I've worked at the U. S. Attorney's office in their Medicare fraud unit. Writings of legislation based on what I learned there can be done in order to reduce the amount of fraud and that health care program.

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I am convinced that we are going to move to bring the budget into balance. We cannot afford to do in the next two years what we've done in the last 15 years. Uh, second, I'm very committed that that balancing the budget treat Florida fairly. I'm concerned that some of the proposals that have been put on the table would have Florida hurt much more than most other states because of our fast growth because of our large elderly population.

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So fairness has to be a primary goal as we seek to balance the federal budget. The people I work with are like the people of Florida. That is, they are not all of the same mind. They are very, uh, different. On Wednesday, I worked, uh, at the welfare office in Pensacola, where one of the demonstration projects on how people can move from dependency to independency through work is being, uh, demonstrated and tested today.

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I worked with the crew at the warehouse in Jacksonville and then drove over with one of the regular drivers. And now here at this, uh, Northwood mall store in Tallahassee. So none of those 100 or so people that I've met this week on workdays is the same.

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There are some common concerns. People are concerned about their economic future. What kind of jobs are going to be available? They're concerned about the education of their Children. Uh, they're concerned about what direction the federal government is going to take their, uh, their unsettled about the new directions and what those new directions may mean to them.

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I would think about whether I would do. One is a handicapped person because I want to do work days that are reflective of what? You know what I am able, uh, to do. But as I say, I've had a number of jobs, uh, with and, uh, in support of handicapped persons.

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I was the Senate sponsor of the Cuban Democracy Act, which strengthened the embargo on Cuba, including the embargo on the travel. And I support that I think our policy towards Cuba should have three principles. One is isolation of the government of Cuba, outreach to the people of Cuba.

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Uh, and a clear indication of what America is prepared to do, uh, in the post Castro Cuba's re entry into the family of legitimate nations in the world. I'd say the biggest policy concern that I'm hearing from Floridians about this summer is they're concerned about what is going to happen to Medicare and Medicaid because so many people in our state depend upon those programs for their health care.

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And they're apprehensive about what they've been, uh, seeing on television and reading about the possible deep cuts. Mhm. I think that the President's general public standing has improved in the last few months. Uh, and I think that 1996 is going to be a very competitive political year.

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As of last Friday, my eighth grandchild was born. Uh, if someone were to ask me which of your eight grandchildren do you love the most? I wouldn't answer that question. I'm not going to answer the question of which of my 300 work days, uh, I like because each of them has been in its own special way.

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Uh, interesting. Put me in touch with some, uh, very exceptional people. The experiences haven't changed. One thing that's altered is when I started, they were fairly anonymous. That is. Very few people recognized me. Uh, now, uh, more people recognized me. Uh, but, uh, most people respect the fact that you're there to work, and, uh, they let you do the job first, uh, and then, uh, talk about politics or whatever else is on their mind.

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Well, this is my second workday at public. I worked as a bag boy. The public's in south Miami. Uh, this is a company which was founded in Florida, which is represented across the state, uh, which, uh, in many people's mind, uh, stands for some of the best in Florida.

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So I was very happy when they extend the invitation to do just 300 workday and the chance to start, uh, Jacksonville and end up here in the community in Tallahassee, where we have so many good friends and memories, was, uh, an invitation you couldn't turn down.

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The lesson of public is the lesson of respecting each individual's contribution. I worked at Publix, uh, back, uh, 12 or 13 years ago as a bag boy. And in that experience, uh, one of the, uh, the store managers brought all of the bag boys together and said, You are the most important employees in public because you're the last person that our customers are going to see and how you relate to them is going to determine how they feel about their experience with public and whether they'll come back next week.

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Uh, that that lesson has always stayed with me, that each individual in an organization is the most important person to some member of the public with which they're going to come in contact. You've been watching a special feature on Sunshine Network Public affairs at work with Bob Graham Thanks for watching.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Boy can relate Dedication before should turn it all the time in a song of the night Do the world a world. Yeah, you do that. Mm.