I was wondering if the club was going to say anything about Kristi lifting footage from Jamie Smith’s appearance, oh, but they are concerned;
Some members of the Downtown Rotary Club in Sioux Falls were not happy that Gov. Kristi Noem’s campaign pilfered video of a meeting the club had with Democratic governor candidate Jamie Smith.
In a note to club members, President Cindy Peterson acknowledged the discontent.
“Please know there has been extensive discussion on if, when, and how to respond,” Peterson wrote. “Downtown Rotary is a nonpartisan organization and prides itself on being a place where important conversations happen. Our club’s neutrality cannot be compromised by implying a side in what is a political debate.”
The ‘time’ to respond would have been immediately after the ad was posted. It does no good to slap people’s hands after they clobber their opponent in a statewide election. Kristi doesn’t give a sh!t!
“As we look forward, the board will discuss our current process and policy regarding meeting content and determine how our club regulates the rights to the footage and how it is used in the future,” Peterson wrote.
I certainly am NO expert, but they could have posted a disclaimer on the bottom of the video that says the Rotary requests permission to use their videos in political and non-political ads. They also can put a copyright on the videos. They can do very little about people who may share their videos on social media or blogs, but those are NOT campaign ads.
I think the Rotary knew what she did was ethically wrong, but since a large majority of members are Republicans and small business owners, there was no way in Hell they were going to slap her around before the election. What members of Rotary were upset? The two democrats and one independent that belong to the club?