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MoveOn Threatens National Boycott of Target Over Donation to Anti-Gay Candidate

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Photo by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr


Photo by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
A donation of $150,000 from Target to a Minnesota gubernatorial candidate who supports Arizona's controversial immigration law, wants to rid the country of minimum wage and a longtime supporter of anti-gay issues has fueled discussion over a possible national boycott of the retailer. The issue, however, appears to be now two-fold more than ever. It's not just about gay rights, but also a recent ruling as the donation is "one of the first high-profile companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling (allowing companies to make unlimited expenditures on political campaigns)," according to the Huffington Post.

The progressive MoveOn.org sent out a petition to its members about the issue, garnering some 200,000 signatures by Tuesday afternoon. "Since the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate spending in elections, ordinary Americans have been voicing outrage that this tips the scales of democracy even more towards those with power and money," MoveOn spokesperson Ilyse Hogue told HuffPo. "Target chose to test the waters and the people have spoken: people all over the country will vote with their dollars if Target and other corporations continue to meddle in our elections."

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