Randi Reitan's anti-Target video goes viral [VIDEO]

• I have always thought Target sucked. I can't believe so many people shop there.

• I am not shopping at Target anymore. This is too much. The CEO is a total jerk. He is using corporate money to fund his personal agenda. Goodbye Target

• Thank you! Thank you for loving your son and standing up for his rights! He is truly blessed to have you as a mom. Your passion for equality is sincere and just. If you were a candidate you would have my vote!

• Sarah, Well, Jesus and his disciples certainly preached their message in public! Rush Limbaugh preaches his message of hate and bigotry in the most public way imaginable and makes a huge profit from it. Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Jim Baker, James Dobson - are you condemning all of them as well? Do not confuse speaking ones heart with seeking glory and fame (which are not to be found on Youtube).

• I haven't shopped at Target since i read about the Lake Street Target store near my house where Somali checkout clerks refuse to scan or check out items like pepperoni pizza. If support by Target for gay causes is so fragile and conditional perhaps Target should reconsider direct support of gay causes. If there are gay boycotts of Wal mart they sure don't seem to be effective.

• Timeforachange, yes $150,000 is a lot of dough. But way more than any of us will make in a lifetime?!?!? Even at the national poverty level for a single person ($10,000/year) you'd only have to earn that for 15 years to equal the $150,000 that Target gave to Emmer. To say that $150,000 is "way more than many of us will ever make in a lifetime" is, well, just wrong. Target gave $$ to Emmer because of his pro business stance. As many of the people in this thread have stated, Target employs a lot of average joes around this country & it wouldn't be all bad if they could continue to pay people a good wage & open more stores to pay even MORE people a decent wage & provide opportunity for upward mobility. Corporations have no business injecting $$ into public elections? A very fair point, but then the government should have no business injecting themselves into corporations either. Just sayin'.

• Good for you Randi. I don't understand how people can be so vicious in this medium, but maybe it's the other side of MN Nice that is sanctioned to appear electornically. Even if i disagreed with you, I would be civil.. $150,000 is a lot of $$- way more than many of us will ever make in a lifetime- and by speaking truth to power- thoroughly embarras Target and it's mythical image. When i think of what Target could have done with that $$, and the divisive message they sent by giving it to a candidate who does not speak or appeal to a wide swath of the voters, and additionally compromises Target's committment to diversity, it makes me very angry indeed. The power of the pocketbook is awesome=I hope many others join in to reevaluate who get's Target's future purchases whether they agree with Emmer or not. The larger issue is that Corporations have no business injecting money and influence in public elections period.

• Last thing I have to say about Randi Reitan, then I will stop beating this dead horse...... Ms. Reitan, from one Christian, (who also stands up for GLBT rights) to another, remember: 1 "Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness' before others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your in heaven. ...2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. " Matthew 6:1-4 Me thinks Ms Reitan likes the spotlight a little too much Matthew 6:1-4

• For twenty years I have been a loyal Target customer and, before they sold Dayton's, an occasional employee. No more. When this corporation decided it was in it's own interest to support a right wing nutjob and drunk driver for Governor of Minnesota, it lost me. I will continue to shop at Minnesota stores, probably smaller ones where prices are a little higher and Employees make a little more. So I will still be supporting the local economy and working people. And you fundamentalists who say you will continue shopping at Target will have zero effect. You already shop there so continuing to do so changes nothing. It's the thousands of liberals who stop spending two or three hundred a month at Target who will erase way more than $150,000 of Target's Profits. You gotta love Free Speech and the Free Enterprise System working together.

• Love Randi...don't you find ironic that "anonymous" is going to shop at target more? typical coward! show your self!

• So what if target does not support Gays. If you dont like it dont shop there. Go somewhere where you belong.

• I admire Target's 5% philanthropy policy, Nevertheless, my wife and I support Randi Reitan's gesture and will not be shopping at Target (or Best Buy) until they disavow making political contributions to candidates on either side of the political aisle. I believe companies that depend on broad-based consumer traffic are going to find there's no upside to making corporate political contributions, Supporting conservative candidates will annoy the liberal constituents and vice versa. Moreover, does it make sense to alienate the segment of your customer demographic with the largest percentage of disposable income, i,e, gays?

• Y'know what this feels like? It feels as though grandma has had a life of hating gays, telling jokes about gays, and pointing them out for ridicule. Then one day her grandson comes out to her. And all of that grandmas guilt just needed an outlet. So now she is overcompensating as an 'activist' and 'supporter'. Part time activists and supporters like grandma aren't needed or wanted. People of all stripes and colors don't need guilt-ridden supporters like grandma. They just want to lead their lives.

• I'm sure the donation had less to do with Tom Emmer's social views than his fiscal views. The current gubernatorial DFLers are extremely anti-business. The MN we know and love will not be the same without the core employers we have here.

• hey lady, go get a job, and work hard! millions of people, gays included, need your welfare!

• after all the politics are out of the way, target is a MN company, thanks for shitting on their profits lady, sorry they arent liberal enough for your standards...

• Tom Emmer is a DRUNK

• Green Room/Hot Air| The Astroturf Campaign Against Target: Fake (But Accurate) http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/31/the-astroturf-campaign-against-target-fake-but-accurate/

• "Randy Reitan" is an activist. MOST people are anti gay. Ultra Libeal Democrat stronghold California voted to ban gays from marriage. Liberal Maine voted to ban gay marriage. 34 other states have voted to changed their State Constitution to ban gay marriage. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was against gay marriage and any special rights based on your sexuality. President Obama is NOT FOR GAY MARRIAGE. Hello,the entire nations is sickened by the whole idea of rights based on your sexual desires. I haven't shopped at Target in years, but now I'm going there right now.

• Bobby- THANK YOU SO MUCH! I was just coming on here to make the same comment, after expressing the same thing to friends on facebook- Surprise surprise, Randi Reitan is from Eden Prairie- no wonder she is so out of touch with those who have to work retail to get by- I doubt she ever has, or if she has it was a college job for beer money It is so incredibly lame that she did not consider for a moment how this would affect the employees- as if the people she bitched to have any say on what corporate does with its money I stand by my belief that calling or taking a visit to corporate in downtown Minneapolis would be more effective- or perhaps this is all about Randi being a media-whore and liking the spotlight a little too much- someone on facebook said "A video of a phone call wouldn't have gotten as much attention" EXACTLY

• Folks, don't get suckered in by this "grandma." Randi Reitan is nothing but a shill for gays, and tries this lame stunt that a 10 year old would think up. Support Target 100%.

• Theres no way you can not shop at any store now days without some type of politics involved. Walmart sells things made by kids in china,target gives money to some nobody running for governor,Cub sells food made with hormones injected into everything. This is america,you cant escape it. Move to some 3rd world country if you want to avoid buying something from some corrupt company that doesnt follow your political views.

• Target should donate $150,000 to a DFL party candidate who advocates the killing of unborn children. That'd make it fair and square!

• Im with Target 100%. There should be a Wal Mart down the street.

• I am against Target's donation to Emmer, but what is this lady trying to prove? Why does she have to make the lives of the employees at that target store harder by making them put back $226 worth of stuff? Just so she could make a point? She seemed angry that she had to wait for a manager. What if there was a problem going on that legitimately required a manager at the time? Should the other customers wait because this lady wants to send some kind of message? It's not like these employees are even close to being able to make a decision about what Target does with their money. She is preaching to the wrong people. Instead of trying to find someone who might actually have some decision-making power at Target, she takes the easy way out. She has good intentions, but just like Tom Emmer she is completely out of touch with the average Minnesotan and average American.

• Boycotts are for the ignorant and uninformed. This initiative is rooted in typical spin that fuels any political movement and unfortunately has landed on the doorstep of "The Best Company Ever". I have worked for Target Corp for over 4 years and have the utmost respect in their values, practices and culture. There are no edges at Target. There is widespread talent no matter what race, belief or personal choice. To those that choose to boycott Target, that is your choice and your opinion. The facts of my context is that diversity has only made us stronger and by working together we don't draw lines or define choices. We are people that are committed to making a great shopping and guest experience and building communities despite what our critics may say. Thanks and please continue to keep your hearts and minds open.

• I was planning on shopping at Target this weekend. Obviously, I can't do that now. It's not just the homophobia. Corporations should not be making any kind of donations to political campaigns. That's just plain unAmerican.

• I do not support Target's campaign contribution, but the only people that will be affected by a boycott are the hourly employees. Target will never go under because of a boycott and the higher ups will always get their big paychecks, but less sales equals less hours and pay for those who actually need it.

• Target has done a great deal for the state of MN. I'll be doing more shopping at Target.

• This homophobic bigot couldn't be more delighted with Target. Anyone who has a business and wants it to succeed is obviously going to be more likely to throw money to the republican candidates. If the fairy god-mother wants to boycott Target, so be it. If Emmer gets elected, Target will make up the lost sales on lower taxes. Plus as a bonus, I won't have to shop with drag queens and child molesters. Everybody wins.

• Has anyone else noticed that the only comment supporting Target is from the one and only anonymous person?

• Target's not any better than Wal-mart, and it never has been. No one should ever have shopped there to begin with.

• If this doesn't open people's eyes to the dangers of corporate America buying politics, then I don't know what will. It is official...this country isn't for and by the people, it is now for and by corporate America. Shame on Emmers for being a corporate shill and shame on Target and Best Buy for sticking their noses into politics. I don't want my money that those stores suck out of my checking account to go to homophobic bigots like Tom Emmer so no more Target and no more Best Buy.

• And I will be shopping there more often

• I'm going to miss shopping at Target, a store I've frequented for years. In spite of the Supreme Court's ruling, corporations are not people. They are made up of people, who are all free to contribute to any campaign they support. OK, corporations are now allowed to back candidates, according to the Court. But the question is, should they? I don't think they should be dedicating profits they earn from my spending to supporting candidates which I may or may not support . . . either way.

• Emmer is certainly entitled to his views. He's just forgetting that people are entitled to make decisions based upon his views.

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