The Target corporation is continuing to face political heat over its donation to a business group supporting Republican Tom Emmer in the Minnesota gubernatorial race, with MoveOn now putting out a new TV ad calling for a boycott.
“Target and other corporations are trying buy our elections,” the announcer says. “But if we all work together, we can stop them. Boycott Target. Our democracy is not for sale.”
As we’ve documented, Target’s involvement with the business group MN Forward, to which they donated $150,000, triggered a political backlash in this liberal state due to Emmer’s right-wing social positions. The company said it was supporting the group because of economic issues, but the CEO has since apologized.
Also, as the Star Tribune reported over the weekend
The Minneapolis-based retailer has been in private talks with the nation’s largest gay-rights advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign, but it’s unclear whether the company will take action. The group, based in Washington, D.C., has demanded that both Target and Best Buy make an equal or greater contribution to groups supporting gay-rights candidates in Minnesota.
Fun fact: Target’s previous name and corporate incarnation was as the Dayton-Hudson corporation — the century-old family business of former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, who is now the Democratic nominee in the gubernatorial race.
The TPM Poll Average puts Dayton ahead of Emmer and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner by a margin of 44.2%-33.6%-9.9%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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