FUNNY BUSINESS. Mark Schmitt's column in our September print issue is a rumination on businesses' efforts at mass voter registration, and the challenge that presents to progressives. Mark mainly focuses on the manufacturing sector, which is sufficiently beleaguered for job loyalty to often trump class loyalty -- as workers "see their economic interest as bound up in their employers� interests." That precise dynamic wouldn't presumably be at work in Wal-Mart, but The Hill reports today that the company "is planning to launch a voter registration and education campaign this fall targeted at its 1.3 million employees in an effort to combat growing criticism from Democrats and labor unions." Details are very skimpy at the moment, but this will certainly be something to watch this season.
--Sam Rosenfeld
