Friday, August 6, 2010

Sell Target?

Target is one of the first corporations to take advantage of Citizens United. It donated over $150,000 to an anti-gay, anti-immigration candidate in Minnesota. We need to hold Target accountable—and show other corporations that they will pay a price if they follow Target's lead in hijacking our democracy. Can you chip in $5?


Dear MoveOn member, 

Breaking news: After Target's contribution to a far-right candidate in Minnesota ignited a public outcry, the company's stock took a hit. In one day, it lost $1.3 billion in value—and some observers said the threat of a boycott was one cause.1

But Target won't stop trying to buy elections. In fact, Target's CEO is already talking about "future donations."2 Maybe he's listening to the analysts who are "downplaying" the downsides of Target's political activity.3 So we need to turn up the heat to make sure that Target—and ALL corporations—understand that Americans won't tolerate corporations hijacking our elections. 

We're working round-the-clock on new, visible ways to get our message across—including skywriting above Target's headquarters, viral videos from angry customers, and live events outside stores around the country. We need to hold Target accountable, and help show other corporations that they better not follow Target's example.

Target gave a right-wing candidate $150,000. We need to raise at least that much right away to keep fighting back. 

That'll take 3 donations from Inwood—can you chip in $5? Just click here:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/target.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=3

It's clear that we've got real momentum. A Facebook group protesting Target ballooned to over 40,000 members in less than a week. A woman with a gay son went to her local Target to protest respectfully—and the resulting video racked up over 200,000 views on YouTube.4 Target was forced to set up a special phone line to handle the volume of customers' phone calls.

But Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel hasn't promised that the company will stop intervening in elections. He emailed Target employees and defended the donation as focused on "business objectives"—and, later, pledged to set up a "review process" for future donations.5 

Future donations? As long as corporations like Target think that it's OK to plow money into political campaigns, we're in trouble. Corporations are not people. We need to make sure that Target and each and every corporation in the country gets this message: Stay out of our elections!

To bring that lesson home, we need to use all our movement's creativity and energy. So today, MoveOn members at over 1,100 Target stores around the country (!) will drop by with letters expressing their disappointment. And when we go to deliver our massive packet of signatures from disappointed customers to Target's headquarters, we'll make sure our message is also displayed in the sky overhead!

We need resources to pay for these high-profile tactics. If we can raise $150,000—the same amount as Target donated to a right-winger—we're confident we can break through the media chatter and spin.

That'll take 3 donations from Inwood—can you chip in $5? Just click here:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/target.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=4

Thanks for helping us bring home this message to Target and other corporations—and for all you do.

–Ilyse, Robin, Anna, Milan, and the rest of the team

Sources: 

1. "Has Emmer donation cost Target on stock market?" TwinCities.com, August 3, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89868&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=5

2. "Target CEO Apologizes—Sort Of," Daily Kos, August 5, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89870&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=6

3. "Has Emmer donation cost Target on stock market?" TwinCities.com, August 3, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89868&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=7

4. "Consumer Vents at Target for Right-Wing Donation," The UpTake.org, July 27, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SipXbgyi68

5. "Target CEO defends donating to anti-gay gubernatorial candidate; boycott gains momentum," Examiner.com, July 30, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89744&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=8

"Target CEO Apologizes—Sort Of," Daily Kos, August 5, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=89870&id=22359-10220574-3mQNwXx&t=9

   

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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to eddie alfaro on August 6, 2010. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

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