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Mavdog · 09-26-2008, 10:58 AM

not sure if murph is using sarcasm or not....

saw this and thought it was relevant.
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SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 'Wal-Mart Women' Vote Remains in Play
Retailer's Shoppers Are Seen to Represent Key Bloc in Election
By MIGUEL BUSTILLO and ANN ZIMMERMAN

Hoping to capitalize on the voting might of its working-class customers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. released results of its own poll Thursday showing the "Wal-Mart Women" vote coveted by both presidential candidates is still up for grabs in five battleground states.

Wal-Mart's customer poll found that Wal-Mart women were slightly more likely to support Sen. John McCain in Ohio and Florida, and Sen. Barack Obama in Virginia, Nevada and Colorado, though only a few percentage points separated preferences in each state.
Wal-Mart said it commissioned the survey to test the voting preferences of men and women who are shopping at its stores. But the poll was clearly an exercise in public relations. The discount retailer sought to play up the notion that Wal-Mart's customers have a key role in November's elections to show that it is a political force to be reckoned with.

Pollsters have emblematized part of the crucial working-class swing vote as "Wal-Mart Women," defined as more socially conservative women who typically don't have a college degree, who are feeling the economic pinch and are shopping at Wal-Mart for its lower prices.

The rise of Wal-Mart's female customers as a sought-after voting bloc has presented the Bentonville, Ark.-based company with an unprecedented opportunity to help choose the next president -- and it's trying to make the most of it.

The political poll, conducted for the company by a bipartisan team of pollsters, isn't the first Wal-Mart has conducted, but it is the first it has made public, said Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar.

Recent economic conditions have more people shopping at Wal-Mart for essentials, making the so-called Wal-Mart Women an increasingly substantial demographic in this year's election.

In addition to the survey, Wal-Mart is distributing demographic summaries to the press of the archetypal Wal-Mart Woman -- or Wal-Mart Mom, as they are also known -- and it has launched a voter-registration drive to ensure that more of its customers make it to the polls.

The rise of Wal-Mart Women marks a turnaround in Wal-Mart's political fortunes. In past years, Wal-Mart has been a favorite punching bag as candidates invoked the megaretailer as a symbol of corporate greed. Just two years ago, Democratic presidential candidates such as Sen. Joe Biden -- now Sen. Obama's running mate -- were attacking Wal-Mart for low wages and paltry health-care benefits as part of a broader strategy to curry favor with labor unions and capitalize on Americans' economic anxieties.

But as Wal-Mart Women take center stage in this year's race for the blue-collar vote -- and the economic slowdown makes Wal-Mart's fixation on low prices fashionable with growing numbers of Americans -- the criticism has quieted, a shift that is boosting the company's efforts to burnish its image.

"Candidates see our shoppers as representative of Americans worried about today's economy," said Leslie Dach, a former Washington public-relations guru and veteran of seven Democratic presidential campaigns hired by Wal-Mart to help repair its reputation.
With more Americans turning to Wal-Mart for essentials such as food, health care and gasoline, candidates run a risk of alienating voters by assailing the company, said Neil Newhouse, a partner with the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. The firm coined the term Wal-Mart Women a year ago to categorize the voting bloc expected to be this season's equivalent of the soccer moms of 1996 and Nascar dads of 2004. It found in a poll this month that nearly a third of expected voters now shopped at Wal-Mart. "You're not going to bash a place that 30% of likely voters go to on a weekly basis," Mr. Newhouse said. "It doesn't make political sense."

Bruised by a drumbeat of criticism alleging stingy and discriminatory treatment of its employees, Wal-Mart has been making an aggressive push in recent years to rehabilitate its image, hiring a public-relations firm to help it answer critics, launching a campaign to reduce its environmental impact, and expanding a $4 prescription generic-drug plan to help combat high health-care costs.

Wal-Mart also has so far doled out more campaign contributions to Democrats than Republicans in the House of Representatives this election cycle -- a first for the traditionally GOP-leaning company.

Wal-Mart hasn't escaped criticism this year. A group of unions has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the company improperly cautioned tens of thousands of store supervisors that voting for Democrats, including Sen. Obama, could hurt the company because the Democrats support a bill that would make unionizing easier.
The union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group Wake Up Wal-Mart has been running negative ads in seven states that show Sen. McCain in front of a Wal-Mart logo and accuse him of favoring reckless corporate tax cuts.

Still, the shift in Wal-Mart's image this political season has frustrated the company's foes, who argue that their claims about Wal-Mart exploiting American workers and pushing jobs offshore remain as relevant as ever.

"Even people who don't necessarily feel good about Wal-Mart's policies have found themselves shopping there because of how bad things have gotten," said Meghan Scott, a spokeswoman for Wake Up Wal-Mart.

09-26-2008, 10:58 AM	#484
Mavdog Diamond Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 6,014	not sure if murph is using sarcasm or not.... saw this and thought it was relevant. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 'Wal-Mart Women' Vote Remains in Play Retailer's Shoppers Are Seen to Represent Key Bloc in Election By MIGUEL BUSTILLO and ANN ZIMMERMAN Hoping to capitalize on the voting might of its working-class customers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. released results of its own poll Thursday showing the "Wal-Mart Women" vote coveted by both presidential candidates is still up for grabs in five battleground states. Wal-Mart's customer poll found that Wal-Mart women were slightly more likely to support Sen. John McCain in Ohio and Florida, and Sen. Barack Obama in Virginia, Nevada and Colorado, though only a few percentage points separated preferences in each state. Wal-Mart said it commissioned the survey to test the voting preferences of men and women who are shopping at its stores. But the poll was clearly an exercise in public relations. The discount retailer sought to play up the notion that Wal-Mart's customers have a key role in November's elections to show that it is a political force to be reckoned with. Pollsters have emblematized part of the crucial working-class swing vote as "Wal-Mart Women," defined as more socially conservative women who typically don't have a college degree, who are feeling the economic pinch and are shopping at Wal-Mart for its lower prices. The rise of Wal-Mart's female customers as a sought-after voting bloc has presented the Bentonville, Ark.-based company with an unprecedented opportunity to help choose the next president -- and it's trying to make the most of it. The political poll, conducted for the company by a bipartisan team of pollsters, isn't the first Wal-Mart has conducted, but it is the first it has made public, said Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar. Recent economic conditions have more people shopping at Wal-Mart for essentials, making the so-called Wal-Mart Women an increasingly substantial demographic in this year's election. In addition to the survey, Wal-Mart is distributing demographic summaries to the press of the archetypal Wal-Mart Woman -- or Wal-Mart Mom, as they are also known -- and it has launched a voter-registration drive to ensure that more of its customers make it to the polls. The rise of Wal-Mart Women marks a turnaround in Wal-Mart's political fortunes. In past years, Wal-Mart has been a favorite punching bag as candidates invoked the megaretailer as a symbol of corporate greed. Just two years ago, Democratic presidential candidates such as Sen. Joe Biden -- now Sen. Obama's running mate -- were attacking Wal-Mart for low wages and paltry health-care benefits as part of a broader strategy to curry favor with labor unions and capitalize on Americans' economic anxieties. But as Wal-Mart Women take center stage in this year's race for the blue-collar vote -- and the economic slowdown makes Wal-Mart's fixation on low prices fashionable with growing numbers of Americans -- the criticism has quieted, a shift that is boosting the company's efforts to burnish its image. "Candidates see our shoppers as representative of Americans worried about today's economy," said Leslie Dach, a former Washington public-relations guru and veteran of seven Democratic presidential campaigns hired by Wal-Mart to help repair its reputation. With more Americans turning to Wal-Mart for essentials such as food, health care and gasoline, candidates run a risk of alienating voters by assailing the company, said Neil Newhouse, a partner with the Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. The firm coined the term Wal-Mart Women a year ago to categorize the voting bloc expected to be this season's equivalent of the soccer moms of 1996 and Nascar dads of 2004. It found in a poll this month that nearly a third of expected voters now shopped at Wal-Mart. "You're not going to bash a place that 30% of likely voters go to on a weekly basis," Mr. Newhouse said. "It doesn't make political sense." Bruised by a drumbeat of criticism alleging stingy and discriminatory treatment of its employees, Wal-Mart has been making an aggressive push in recent years to rehabilitate its image, hiring a public-relations firm to help it answer critics, launching a campaign to reduce its environmental impact, and expanding a $4 prescription generic-drug plan to help combat high health-care costs. Wal-Mart also has so far doled out more campaign contributions to Democrats than Republicans in the House of Representatives this election cycle -- a first for the traditionally GOP-leaning company. Wal-Mart hasn't escaped criticism this year. A group of unions has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether the company improperly cautioned tens of thousands of store supervisors that voting for Democrats, including Sen. Obama, could hurt the company because the Democrats support a bill that would make unionizing easier. The union-backed anti-Wal-Mart group Wake Up Wal-Mart has been running negative ads in seven states that show Sen. McCain in front of a Wal-Mart logo and accuse him of favoring reckless corporate tax cuts. Still, the shift in Wal-Mart's image this political season has frustrated the company's foes, who argue that their claims about Wal-Mart exploiting American workers and pushing jobs offshore remain as relevant as ever. "Even people who don't necessarily feel good about Wal-Mart's policies have found themselves shopping there because of how bad things have gotten," said Meghan Scott, a spokeswoman for Wake Up Wal-Mart.