After weeks of public protest over its financial support of an organization that backed a GOP gubernatorial candidate opposed to gay rights, Target Corp. now faces a new form of pressure: demands from institutional shareholders that it revamp its donation process to avoid the chance of additional backfires.
The shareholder action follows the disclosure last month that Target had sent corporate funds to an organization backing the Minnesota gubernatorial candidate. Such donations are allowed under a recent Supreme Court decision that lets companies and unions contribute directly to independent election campaigns.
Critics of the decision, including President Obama, feared the ruling would allow big-business dollars to disproportionately affect campaigns across the country. But the Target case suggests that customer and shareholder pressure is emerging as an unexpected factor that could rein in at least some of that corporate spending. ...Tom Hamburger, LA Times