Friday, September 29, 2006

Wal-Mart Voter Education May Backfire

Wal-Mart has begun a voter education program that is a thinly disguised attempt to steer employees to vote Republican. Many feel pressured and may vote Democratic instead. From Lisa Featherstone at The Nation:

In other Wal-Mart news, the company is trying to counter its political troubles -- from site fights to "Fair Share" laws to living wage ordinances -- through "voter education" within its own workforce. Of course the company insists that the information it's giving workers is nonpartisan, but in fact, very few of the politicians that publicly criticize the company are Republican, and the company is clearly responding to recent attacks by Democrats hoping to rally their base. A Wal-Mart department manager -- who wished to remain anonymous -- told me the other day that it might backfire. "Oh, of course they want us to vote Republican," she explains, "but you know, I have been talking to some associates and just the mere fact that Wal-Mart is trying to coerce them... is making them vote the other way."

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