Dems will use Wal-Mart against Repukes (NYTimes)

[warrens]

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.

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Chris Machian for The New York Times
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., joining a growing number of Democratic candidates campaigning against Wal-Mart, said yesterday that he did not “see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people.”

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

“My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don’t see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people,” Mr. Biden said, standing on the sweltering rooftop of the State Historical Society building here. “They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That’s true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?”

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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/17/washington/17dems.html?th&emc=th

[waiting for hope]

1. Hello! Then work harder to

get the minimum wage increased! Yes, the repukes did a bad thing last time by added the tax cut, but shit, don't blame Wal-Mart - raise the standard EVERYWHERE.

[demosincebirth]

2. Just like that, huh.

Raising the minimum wage for democrates, with the repugs in charge, would be like, trying to pull four wisdom teeth without anesthetic.

[bryant69]

3. We'll have to see how this plays out

On the one hand there's a lot of resentment for Wal-Mart, on the other a lot of people shop there. One can expect Republicans to comment on the availability of cheap goods being good for working class Americans (and then snidely commenting on how many Democratic Senators shopt at Wal-Mart vs. much ritzier stores).

Bryant
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