On Walmart and North Carolina
From today’s paper, a story on Walmart’s expanding political activity in North Carolina:
RALEIGH - Walmart may be the world's largest retailer, but until recently its footprint in North Carolina politics has been anything but big box.That is changing as the company's federal political action committee expands its donations to candidates seeking state office, including $54,000 to state-level candidates during the current election cycle, which began in December 2006 and will continue through November.
Before 2004, the company's PAC gave no money to North Carolina legislative candidates.
"The point of being involved in the PAC process is to build relationships with these individuals, to help them understand what Walmart is doing to be a solution provider," said E.R. Anderson, a company spokeswoman who returned phone calls placed to the PAC's treasurer.
Anderson said that there was no single factor that prompted the company to take an interest in North Carolina or other states' political scenes. Rather she listed transportation, health care and environmental regulation as issues about which the company is concerned.
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