NYT: Eye on Election, Democrats Run as Wal-Mart Foe

[Pirate Smile]

Eye on Election, Democrats Run as Wal-Mart Foe

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MICHAEL BARBARO
Published: August 17, 2006

DES MOINES, Aug. 16 — Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, delivered a 15-minute, blistering attack to warm applause from Democrats and union organizers here on Wednesday. But Mr. Biden’s main target was not Republicans in Washington, or even his prospective presidential rivals.

It was Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest private employer.

Among Democrats, Mr. Biden is not alone. Across Iowa this week and across much of the country this month, Democratic leaders have found a new rallying cry that many of them say could prove powerful in the midterm elections and into 2008: denouncing Wal-Mart for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits.

-snip-
The focus on Wal-Mart is part of a broader strategy of addressing what Democrats say is general economic anxiety and a growing sense that economic gains of recent years have not benefited the middle class or the working poor.

Their alliance with the anti-Wal-Mart campaign dovetails with their emphasis in Washington on raising the minimum wage and doing more to make health insurance affordable. It also suggests they will go into the midterm Congressional elections this fall and the 2008 presidential race striking a populist tone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/washington/17dems.html?hp&ex=1155787200&en=0cf53d756a9f9da6&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[w4rma]

1. Very good. (nt)

[bluestateguy]

2. Oh, it's an Adam Nagourney article

I'd rather watch Fox News.

[Born Free]

3. I don't hate Wal-Mart

It's not Wal-Mart , it's their practice of not taking care of their employees, when Wal-Mart is more responsible to their employees and the comunities they are in, I will shop Wal-Mart. Yes, this is also how I feel about bush, it's not the individual I hate, it's his poor decisions that are destroying America.

[Sherman A1]

4. Well Said

I don't hate them either, but rather I hate their decisions (which ripple through the global economy) and their actions (the violations of laws and human rights). Can they change - of course, will they change - just enough to get everyone off their back. It will continue to come down to the bottom line for them. When their current track fails to produce huge profits they will find a path that they believe will do so. It is strictly a business decisions, just as our shopping habits should be. IF we want them to change then we must deny them our purchases until they do so. We must continue to keep their methods and activities in the forefront of the news and people's thinking.

[callous taoboy]

6. I suggest you read a piece in Harper's magazine-

I believe it was in the August issue (may have been July) entitled, "Making the Anti-Trust Case Against Wal-Mart." Just made me despise them even more. Thanks to Ronnie Raygun's dismantling of anti-trust laws we now have this beast that is consuming everything in its path, including its suppiers.

Wal-Mart must change its ways or be broken up, and I'm glad the Dems are taking this on as a campaign issue. I believe it will resonate.

[krkaufman]

7. This article

Breaking the Chain
The antitrust case against Wal-Mart
Originally from July 2006.
By Barry C. Lynn.

Thanks for the tip.

[krkaufman]

8. Exactly. If Wal-Mart were to genuinely change their ways ....

... I would hold no grudge, and would reward them with my cash.

Similarly, I supported Bush, for a brief moment in time, when he appeared to finally "get it" and went after al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Of course, that moment lasted only a few weeks, with Bush redirecting military planning and focus to Iraq on November 21, 2001, barely 2 months after 9/11.

I expect Wal-Mart will fare no better with their "reformation", emphasizing PR over genuine change.

[depakid]

5. If this is true

It's high time.

Walmart- and the entire set of practices that it's come to symbolize are odious. This is one way to kill two birds with one stone.

Create awareness about how disgusting and self defeating both Walmart- and Republicans are.