Wal-Mart Executives Harrass Blogger’s Daughter for Being a Democrat

Wal-Mart’s official company position on politics is bipartisan, but glimpses into Wal-Mart’s corporate culture reveal this is far from true. Daily Kos diarist Arkydem wrote a post today about a party his adult daughter attended in northwest Arkansas hosted by two Wal-Mart executives. From the sound of it, Wal-Mart’s executive corps is made up entirely of the insensitive meatheads you hated in high school, but instead of teasing you about your lame off-brand sneakers, now they tease you about not being a Republican. Says Arkydem:

I live in the Republican stronghold of Arkansas, the northwest corner. The home of over 7,000 Wal-Mart employees and since early 2002 when Wal-Mart made the announcement that if you’re a vendor, you set up shop here, adding another 30-40K folks and a sea of vendor offices all over the county, all carrying the misinformation and hate that corporate Wal-Mart spreads through its ranks and its vendor slaves about Democrats and about a million other things.

Wal-Mart strives to be seen as a politically neutral company for several reasons. The politics of Wal-Mart have never been positive for the company: low wages, poor benefits and other stingy practices have dogged the retailer for years, and have damaged its reputation. The farther the company can distance itself from these issues, the better. But Wal-Mart is also desperate to break in to several predominantly Democrat markets, and aligning with Republican values never helps this cause. Stories like Arkydem’s present a real problem for Wal-Mart, and seriously hamper its attempts to woo Democrats. Stories like this one don’t help much either, but no one said the company was interested in actually changing its practices to achieve change.

They Attacked our Daughter [Daily Kos]
Wal-Mart on the attack [Arkansas Times]

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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COMMENTS

arkydem writes about the McCain insurance plan at length. I don’t know if he listens to Dennis Miller on the radio,but last week ,Miller’s guest was former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating.[ Frank Keating had considered running for President this term,stating there were NO Reagan Republicans running. Must have had a change of heart..(flip-flop)? Now he’s a McCainiac.] Nonethelss, Keating ragged on and on about Obama.Called him “a guy of the streets”. Now what is instructive about Keating,in this discussion,is his current position. Here’s where arkydem needs to listen up.To wit:

Frank Keating took over as president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers in January 2003 after serving two terms as Oklahoma’s 25th governor.

As president and CEO of ACLI, Governor Keating is the chief representative and spokesman for the life insurance industry in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. He and his staff work as advocates [lobbyists]for 353 life insurance companies that account for 93 percent of total industry assets, 93 percent of the life insurance premiums, and 94 percent of annuity considerations in the United States.

Governor Keating has played a leading role in promoting public policies to boost Americans’ retirement security and long-term savings.(Like privatize Social Security?) He regularly advocates on Capitol Hill and to the Bush administration on the need to make Americans’ retirement security a national priority.

He is seen frequently on the Fox News Channel as a commentator on a wide variety of topics. ~~~~ACLI~~~~He’s a LOBBYIST for the insurance companies-a LOT of insurance companies. I don’t think McCain has YET to meet a lobbyist he didn’t like,IMHO.BTW, he is NOT the Charles Keating of the Keating Five disgrace, but he does have his OWN scandal ,namely Keating/Dreyfus .

ddrb in
Tuesday, October 14 at 03:27 PM

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