Dem Pollster -- Targeting Wal-Mart is a political loser

Econopundit posted on this at RCP. Gotta love this from a Democratic pollster:

The temptation to "stand up to Wal-Mart" as a campaign ploy reflects the sometimes cocooning and self-deceptive nature of Democratic Party activists. Indeed, in RT Strategies polls we consistently find that the most vociferously anti- Wal-Mart groups are Northeast and West Coast liberals who themselves rarely or never shop at Wal-Mart, shunning the retailer as not worthy of their patronage. They cannot understand how others fail to reach the same conclusion. At the extreme, such a person as a Democratic candidate for office might even want to suggest a few new laws or regulatory interpretations to help those who cannot help but dally in the devil's workshop.

By staying out of the stores themselves, anti- Wal-Mart Democrats might have missed the fact that:

· 84% of Americans shopped at Wal-Mart in the past year, probably because 81% say it is a good place to shop, according to a December 2005 Pew Research Center poll;
· It is not uncommon for thousands to apply when a few hundred new jobs open up at a Wal-Mart, provoking comparisons that Wal-Mart's hiring team can be more selective than Harvard undergraduate admissions or the high-IQ organization MENSA in choosing which candidates to hire.
· For the average family of a Wal-Mart employee, the company represents opportunity: The vast majority of Wal-Mart store managers rose to that post from hourly jobs on the floor.
· For the average family of shoppers, the savings at Wal-Mart are over $2,000 per year.

Unlike the most vociferous of Wal-Mart's opponents, most Americans do shop at Wal-Mart, and most Americans understand the benefits of Wal-Mart--and do not understand the priorities of those who want to make Wal-Mart the issue.

Steve notes in his post that the $2000 saved at Wal-Mart compares to the total of $13,000 paid by the average family in local, state, and federal taxes. Being a Democratic activist means loving the taxman and hating the money-saver. Sounds like a big winner!