LETTER: Campaign Allegations
I am writing this letter in response to the defamatory allegations made in a recent Letter to the Editor section entitled: “Disgusted by campaigns actions." I am a volunteer with the campaign and would like to share some actual facts in response to what was recently written.
The “Adam Lawrence for Mid-Michigan” campaign recently released a song called: “Whistle While You Vote," to promote the importance of voting this election. The song was put to a slide show filled with campaign photos and posted onto YouTube for viewers to see.
The letter written to CM Life addressing this video strays too far from the truth to not be addressed with facts. The claims of “stolen intellectual property” and “dirty politics” by the author are both misleading and irresponsible.
The photo in question came from Lawrence’s own Facebook page and has been available for public view since April when he was “tagged” in it. Viewers can see this photo at the 31-sec mark of “Whistle While You Vote." Relating this to a purposeful pilfering of intellectual property could not be further from the truth.
Ms. McDonnell addressed the photos usage to the campaign by posting her “disgust” in a demeaning social media rant. In this tirade, she never once asked for it to be taken down or for her to be credited. Based on that and the article, I believe McDonnell was using this as an opportunity to attack Lawrence for personal reasons.
Letters written to a newspaper should have a purpose other than malicious intent for the sake of self-gain. If McDonnell was actually concerned about her intellectual property, she would have privately asked to be credited or it to be taken down. This is simply an instance where an individual saw the opportunity to take a shot at a public figure, and she took it. If any voter wants to know the actual character of Adam Lawrence, ask any of the teachers, workers and seniors he is out there fighting for every day.
-Tim Vanwoerkom
Campaign Volunteer for Adam Lawrence
