Following the 2020 elections, it became fashionable for companies, including manufacturers, to affiliate with the Democratic side of the political aisle, while shunning Republicans. Not only did corporate donations ramp to candidates, political action committees (PACs) and “Dark Money” 501(c)(4) groups championing progressive leaders, political media, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Business Insider, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Hill and countless other outlets championed efforts to defeat “Election Objectors,” who they saw as questioning the political process.
Manufacturers played a key role in this shift, not only in donations but in other actions. Firms such as Nike championed left-leaning causes with proven links to anti-semitism, including Black Lives Matter; at least one large manufacturer in Illinois ramped-up HR programs targeting non-minority males for early retirement while giving promotion preference to diversity groups within its ranks; and supplier diversity programs across industrial firms channeled more spend to specific demographics without significant regard to anything “but the numbers,” even targeting groups such as women and LGBTQ owned firms without any history of facing systematic discrimination in business lending to “pad their quotas,” according to one procurement manager.
This activity echoed a broader trend, as corporate America supported and advocated for one side of the political aisle over the other. The extreme of donation activity is best represented by Twitter employees and leaders. According to the NY Post, “99 percent of online political contributions made by Twitter employees in 2021 went to Democrats, according to Federal Election Commission data. Twitter workers made 561 contributions through Actblue, the Democratic Party-linked payments processor, vs. just eight through its Republican counterpart, WinRed.” There are numerous reasons why corporate donations and political advocacy edged left in recent years, owing in part to division within the Republican party that cost it dearly in the last
election cycle. But 2022 is already promising to bring a return to broader diversity of thought, donation and advocacy for manufacturers.
In interviews with numerous industrial leaders, Surplus Record is seeing the political landscape shift to a more balanced middle ground. In particular, many executives expressed concern about the “cancel culture” elements of the left which are stifling debate in Washington and inside firms.
A metals industry executive suggests that “the rise of advocacy within manufacturing does not reflect anything but a passing flirtation with social justice, as it was the flavor of the day following George Floyd. But more recent advocacy stances for vaccine mandates in Washington are not sustainable from a talent management perspective in operations and supply chain—there simply is not enough post-pandemic labor, something the current administration does not seem to fully grasp from a policy perspective.”
Other manufacturing leaders suggest that the combination of election history and poor polling for Democratic leaders in Washington will shift the donation landscape in 2022. “Mid-cycle elections often favor the party not in power,” suggests one Chicago-area executive. “I would not be surprised to see manufacturers follow both history and polling data in hedging their bets in the 2022 election cycle, especially considering non-transitory inflation and continued supply chain challenges which will make it hard for incumbents to point the finger at anyone but themselves.”The spoiler for industrial political donations and advocacy is likely whether the 2022 election becomes a continued referendum for a new Republican party, which showed signs of welcoming labor in recent years. Moreover, Democratic leaders such as Joe Manchin, who support both business and labor, appear to be gaining the upper hand on donations from energy companies and manufacturers, in comparison to progressive candidates.
Might a new middle be emerging with an industrial base at the core? That’s above our political pay grade. But we say one thing looks all but certain in 2022: an embrace of Republicans and more conservative Democratic candidates from a manufacturing advocacy and donation perspective.
