A reader sent in a link to some of the Target voter guides, it turns out Target has selected eight issues they consider pertinent for their interests and for all of the incumbents they compile a voting record.
First, let's look at John Doolittle, the Republican from the Fourth Congressional District in California, who is locked in a tight battle with Charlie Brown. He voted with Target 7 out of 8 times. Now the nice thing about the Target site (see I can give them praise) is that they give us a comparison as to where they stand versus where we might stand. So they list five voting ratings. The National Association of Manufactures, Doolittle had a 90% score. US Chamber of Commerce, 93%. BIPAC’s Prosperity Project, 91%. Those three are conservative, the next two are liberal. With the AFL-CIO, Doolittle scored a 7%. League of Conservation Voters, 0%. So let’s put this into perspective. Doolittle voted with labor only 7% of the time and for the environment on zero votes, whereas he voted with the conservative groups 90% of the time. Not a surprise since he is a conservative Republican. He voted with Target 87.5% of the time almost mirroring his conservative voting record. Which one of is closer to your values?
Richard Pombo, Republican from the 11th Congressional District is locked in a tight battle with Jerry McNerney. He voted with Target 8 out of 8 times. He had a 90 percent rating from the National Association of Manufacturers, 97 from the US Chamber of Commerce, 100% with BIPAC. And on the liberal side—0% with AFL-CIO and 5% with the League of Conservation Voters. Again, 100% with Target. Which side of the fence is Target on? It seems obvious.
For the sake of comparison, I also looked up the voting record of Mike Thompson, the Democrat who represents much of Yolo County and the North Coast of California. Very different picture. He did vote with Target on trade issues, but not health care and benefits and not on privacy. So he voted with them 3 out of 8 times or 37%. How did he score on the other ratings: 38 percent with the Manufactures, 50 percent with the Chamber of Commerce, 20 percent with BIPAC. On the liberal side, 87% with the AFL-CIO and 90% with the League of Conservation Voters. And of course, 37.5% with Target.
It’s kind of scary how closely Target’s votes match up with the three other conservative ratings. And of course, they are the opposite of the AFL-CIO and League of Conservation Voters.
So again, it’s a clear choice. If you support labor and support the environment, you should not be supporting Target. Yes we know they have cheap socks and underwear (and deodorant Mr. Rifkin), but in terms of our values, Davis values, Target doesn’t support them. If you want Doolittle and Pombo to win, you should support Target. If you want Charlie Brown and Jerry McNerney to win, you should oppose Target.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
