Politics don’t belong here

Kudos to The Enterprise for covering a local business owner’s lobbying of her employees prior to the election, and a special nod to Tom Sakash for sticking to the facts and direct quotes from Jennifer. Anderson, owner of Davis Ace Hardware.

The naivete of such an act — put in writing, no less — is remarkable. In my view, politics shouldn’t enter into the everyday decisions of where we should buy tools, paint and plants, but this “vote for Romney or else” tactic rubs our community’s collective nose in smelly political nonsense.

Given the progressive voting history of Davis — aka the Ace clientele — Anderson’s letter will, if anything, only encourage shoppers to patronize her competitors, with negative consequences to these same employees she seeks to “educate.” I for one had no idea that Ace was run by right-leaning partisans (much as Safeway and Home Depot are), but thanks to her letter, I do now!

Presumably, her key concern is health care, and fear that steps toward universal coverage will somehow hurt small business. Seems unlikely to me, but that issue aside, is it so hard for business owners to understand that nearly all their employees would love to have full coverage — in fact, many employees may see health benefits as the principal value of holding the job in the first place?

Anderson was indeed within her rights to send the letter. And while I wasn’t personally offended by her action at all, I did find it offensive. After all, exploiting her employer-employee relationship with intent to influence their votes — legal or otherwise — is both clueless and un-American.

James Gilardi

Davis