Ohio's Issue 2 Backers Use Stolen Footage to Make Misleading Ad

Laura ClawsonFollowforDaily Kos Labor

This is about as brazen as it comes. The video above shows two ads in sequence. In the first, from We Are Ohio, a great-grandmother talks about how she's voting no on Issue 2 because "Issue 2 makes it illegal to negotiate for enough fire fighters to do their job"—a job that saved her great-granddaughter's life. And she's right. Issue 2 (also known as SB 5) would strip public workers like firefighters of collective bargaining rights, including the right to bargain for safe staffing levels and the safety equipment they need.

In the second, pro-Issue 2 group Building a Better Ohio actually takes part of this woman's statement about why she is opposing Issue 2, using her voice and the same footage the We Are Ohio ad used, and then adds a voiceover claiming the woman supports Issue 2. In fact, it makes it appear as if her reason for opposing Issue 2 is actually her reason for supporting it.

Plunderbund notes that the misappropriated footage was also spliced onto part of an ad "which the Columbus Dispatch‘s 'Ad Watch' feature had already declared was misleading" even without making this woman appear to take the opposite position she is actually taking. Not only that, this is only an escalation from Building a Better Ohio. Previously,

...they used stock photos to imply support by law enforcement and teachers. Then they passed off a GOP County Party Chairman as an educator’s endorsement. 

It's no wonder that while We Are Ohio has had no trouble finding Ohio residents to talk about why they oppose Issue 2, the bill's supporters have had to repeatedly resort to faking support for their side. But actually using footage from your opponent as if it was your own, not just taking it out of context but 100 percent reversing its meaning? That's not just misleading, it's a full-on dirty trick.

Vote no on Issue 2.