Minnesota Public Radio hosts an editorial by Bill Hillsman about Target’s donation to Minnesota Forward.
As the Target controversy proved, at least some of its customers don’t want corporate boardrooms in their bedrooms any more than they want the government in their bedrooms. If corporations want to be players in electoral politics without a lot of blowback, they need the skilled guidance of communicators who know the political landmines.(People who do what I do.)
James Taranto of the WSJ also discusses the controversy.
Target’s executives believed, probably rightly, that Emmer’s economic policies would serve Target’s interests better than his opponents’. It didn’t occur to them that his social policies had the potential to upset customers and hurt the bottom line. Merely by taking offense, scrappy little OutFront Minnesota was able to humiliate the leaders of a company with a market capitalization of $38 billion. Who has the real economic power here?
When I first heard the news about Target’s donations I had a visceral reaction. I created a meetup Boycott Target page. An AP reporter googled “Boycott Target” And today my picture is in the Wall Street Journal.
I am grateful to the gay community for rallying around this issue. Gay marriage means greater freedom and rights for all people. I am upset for another reason.
America was founded on the radical idea (for the time) that all are created equal. When corporations can spend millions, even hundreds of millions, on elections, there is a real danger of corporations owning government. If a Senator A does not vote the way BIG X wants, then BIG X puts out a campaign that Senator A regularly eats dog meat. This is should not be a left or right issue. One person. One vote. Corporations can not die in battle, or be sent to prison. The idea of personhood for corporations is silly. A few billionaires obsessed with money does not create a vibrant economic future for all. Minnesota has a stronger economy than most states because we were blessed with generations of business leaders committed to the public good and not obsessed with private greed. Let Bush tax cuts expire. Bring back the estate tax. Reduce the deficit. The ultra rich can continue to seek there 10th big house while forgetting how many houses they have. Perhaps, the donations of Bill Gates is an example of a new type of business leadership. We need a trust economy. United We Stand. PS. Please do not take this as anti-rich. I believe camels can easily walk thru the eye of a needle.