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Bill Ayers 2008 presidential election controversy

August 31, 2023

During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, controversy broke out [1] regarding Barack Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a former leader of the Weather Underground, a radical left organization in the 1970s.[2] Investigations by CNN, The New York Times and other news organizations concluded that Obama did not have a close relationship with Ayers.[3][4][5]

Bill Ayers speaks to audience members following a forum on education reform at Florida State University (January 12, 2009).

Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, hosted a gathering at their home in 1995,[6] where Alice Palmer introduced Obama as her chosen successor in the Illinois State Senate.[4][7] Obama and Ayers' service on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago overlapped for three years from 1999 to 2002.[4][6][7]

The matter was first raised by the British and American press, then by conservative blogs and talk radio programs,[8][9] and then by moderator George Stephanopoulos during a debate between Hillary Clinton and Obama in April 2008. The Obama–Ayers connection was used as a major campaign issue by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election campaign. Obama has condemned Ayers' past,[10][11] and stated that he does not have a close association with him.[6]

Background Edit

William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn Edit

Ayers was part of the five-member central committee heading the Weathermen starting at its creation in the summer of 1969.[12] By 1969, Dohrn had joined them. Larry Grathwohl, an FBI informant who was with the Weathermen from autumn 1969 through spring 1970, considered Ayers and Dohrn the two top leaders of the organization.[13] In early 1970, the group had begun a series of bombings, primarily of government buildings,[14] that would continue into 1975. The group intentionally chose its targets to avoid human injury;[15] however, a bomb previously being designed in March 1970, for use at an NCO dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey, had claimed the lives of three members of the Weathermen who died during an accidental explosion while assembling it.[15] After the accidental explosion, the remaining members moved and took false identities.

 
William Ayers in 2008

During their time "underground", Ayers and Dohrn formed a relationship that bore them two sons, born in 1977 and 1980. In a late-1970s split of the group, the couple joined the faction that favored surrendering to authorities. In 1980, they took this step themselves. They were both spared federal prosecution due to government misconduct while investigating the two. Dohrn received three years' probation and was fined $1,500 for the Illinois state charges, but later served seven months in jail for refusal to testify to a grand jury about their former colleagues in the Weathermen.[16]

Ayers and Dohrn are described as fixtures of their Hyde Park, Chicago neighborhood, "embraced, by and large, in the liberal circles dominating politics" there, according to Ben Smith, a writer for The Politico,[7] and their political and activist colleagues believe their achievements of the recent decades overshadow their Vietnam-era radical activities.[6] Ayers has been described as "very respected and prominent in Chicago [with] a national reputation as an educator."[2]

In conjunction with the approaching September 10, 2001, publication of a personal memoir, Ayers gave an interview to The New York Times in July, which they published on September 11.[16] Ayers then wrote a letter to the editor stating the interview misquoted him and mischaracterized his views, particularly about their reporter's claim that Ayers wished he had set more bombs. "This is not a question of being misunderstood or 'taken out of context,' but of deliberate distortion."[17]

Interaction between Obama and Ayers Edit

Obama and Ayers first met at the first Chicago Annenberg Challenge board of directors meeting at noon on March 15, 1995, at the headquarters of the Spencer Foundation on the 28th floor of the 900 North Michigan building in Chicago.[5][18] Ayers and Anne Hallett,[19] co-authors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant proposal and leaders of the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, attended six early board meetings to brief the directors[5][18] and a June 22, 1995 news conference where the members of the board of directors were announced.[20]

On June 27, 1995, state Sen. Alice Palmer announced she was running for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by indicted U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds and would be giving up her state Senate seat instead of running for re-election in 1996.[21] The following week newspapers reported that Palmer-supporter Obama, whose memoir Dreams from My Father would be published on July 18, 1995, would announce he was running and would be a front-runner for Palmer's state Senate seat.[22] On September 19, 1995, Obama announced his candidacy for Palmer's state Senate seat to two hundred supporters at the Ramada Inn Lakeshore, where Palmer introduced and endorsed Obama as her successor.[23] Sometime in the second half of 1995, Ayers and Dohrn hosted a coffee for Obama in their 4th Ward Kenwood townhouse (one mile northwest of the Obamas' 5th Ward Hyde Park condominium)[24] at which Palmer introduced Obama as her choice to succeed her as state Senator to about a dozen guests,[5][7] including prominent Chicago physician Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates universal, comprehensive single-payer national health insurance.[25]

In his first, two-year term in the Illinois Senate in the 90th General Assembly (1997–1998), Obama served on the Judiciary Committee and was involved in legislating a major overhaul of the Illinois juvenile justice system.[26] On June 30, 1997, Ayers' book, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, was published.[27] On November 20, 1997, University of Chicago Associate Dean of Students Michelle Obama's University Community Service Center's monthly discussion series held a six-person panel discussion (that included Ayers and Barack Obama) on the juvenile justice system from 6:00–8:00 pm, free and open to the public in the C-Shop in the Reynolds Club student center at 5706 S. University Avenue.[28]

In November 1993, Obama became one of the five founding directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago when it split off from the Lincoln, Nebraska-incorporated Woods Charitable Fund, and served as a director for nine years until December 2002.[29] Ayers served as a director of the Woods Fund of Chicago for nine years from December 1999 until December 2008, overlapping with Obama for three years from December 1999 until December 2002.[30] Laura S. Washington,[31] chairwoman of the Woods Fund, said the small board had a collegial "friendly but businesslike" atmosphere, and met four times a year for a half-day, mostly to approve grants.[6]

On March 2, 2001, Ayers made a $200 contribution to Obama's third campaign for the Illinois Senate.[7]

On April 20, 2002, the University of Illinois at Chicago spring semester Liberal Arts and Sciences course "LAS 400: The University and the Public Sphere; Public Intellectuals and Their Social Influence" concluded with a conference "Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?" that included a six-person panel discussion (that included Ayers and Obama) on "Intellectuals in Times of Crisis: Experiences and applications of intellectual work in urgent situations" from 2:15–3:45 pm, free and open to the public in the UIC Chicago Illini Union student center at 828 S. Wolcott Avenue.[32]

In June 2005, the Obamas purchased and moved to a 4th Ward Kenwood house on Greenwood Avenue, four blocks from Ayers's townhome.[24]

An August 2008 USA Today article reported "The last time Obama saw Ayers was about a year ago when he crossed paths with him while biking in the neighborhood," says Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman. "The suggestion that Ayers was a political adviser to Obama or someone who shaped his political views is patently false."[33] In October 2008, The New York Times reported that Obama did not have a significant relationship with Ayers.[5] In a November 2008 interview with The Washington Post, Ayers said that he knew Obama only slightly: "I think my relationship with Obama was probably like that of thousands of others in Chicago and, like millions and millions of others, I wished I knew him better."[34]

Presidential campaign issue Edit

Obama's contacts with Ayers had been public knowledge in Chicago for years.[8] The connection was then picked up by blogs and newspapers in the United States, including by The Huffington Post.[35]

Primary debates Edit

The Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz has written that the connection between the two Chicagoans was "all but ignored by the news media, other than Fox" until it was raised in a primary debate.[36] At that Democratic Party primary debate in Philadelphia on April 16, 2008, moderator George Stephanopoulos questioned Obama about his association with Ayers (after conservative commentator Sean Hannity suggested the question the day before).[37] Stephanopoulos asked the candidate: "Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?"[38]

Obama responded:

This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was eight years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense, George.[6][39]

Obama's response led to an exchange with Clinton, in which Clinton said, "Senator Obama served on a board with Mr. Ayers for a period of time, the Woods Fund, which was a paid directorship position."[38] Obama then referred to President Bill Clinton's pardoning of Linda Sue Evans and Susan Rosenberg,[40] two former Weather Underground members convicted for their actions after joining the splinter group May 19 Communist Organization. The following Sunday, Stephanopoulos asked Republican presidential candidate John McCain about Obama's patriotism, and McCain responded: "I'm sure he's very patriotic," then added, "But his relationship with Mr. Ayers is open to question."[38]

On May 17, as the controversy continued, the Obama campaign issued their own "Fact Check" regarding Clinton's statements on the alleged relationship between Ayers and Obama.[41]

General election campaign Edit

McCain and campaign statements Edit

In April 2008, John McCain began to question Obama's interactions with Ayers,[42] and it became an issue later in the general election campaign.

In August 2008, the Republican Party created the website, barackbook.com,[43] as a spoof of Facebook, on which Ayers is listed as one of Obama's "friends." This website contains a mocked-up user profile for Ayers, which describes the matter and Obama's alleged connections with him.[44] That month, the American Issues Project began running an ad that emphasized the relationship between the two, which contained the following text: "Barack Obama is friends with Ayers, defending him as, quote, 'Respectable' and 'Mainstream.' Obama's political career was launched in Ayers's home. And the two served together on a left-wing board. Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?"[45]

In October 2008, after the McCain campaign announced that it would step up attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate,[46] Sarah Palin delivered speeches saying that Obama was "palling around with terrorists." For support, Palin cited an article in The New York Times that had actually concluded that Obama and Ayers were not close. The article stated that other "publications, including The Washington Post, Time magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic, have said that their reporting doesn't support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship."[5] CNN has independently deemed Palin's allegations false, saying: "There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now 'palling around,' or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are."[4] The Republican National Committee[47] and the McCain campaign each launched additional attack ads, calling Obama "too dangerous for America."[48]

On October 16, the McCain campaign launched a massive robocall campaign which played an automated message linking Ayers to Obama.[49]

Obama campaign response Edit

The Obama campaign added a section about Ayers to its "Fight the Smears" website, where it argued that the attack by "a desperate McCain campaign" and other groups was a "smear",[50] citing newspaper commentaries calling it "phony",[51] "tenuous".[52] and "exaggerated at best if not outright false".[53]

In August 2008, the Obama campaign's attorney Robert Bauer wrote TV stations running the American Issues Project ad, saying, "Your station is committed to operating in the public interest, an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity," and wrote Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General John C. Keeney, describing the ad as a "willful attempt to evade the strictures of federal election law."[45] The Obama campaign ran a TV ad of its own in selected markets that said in part, "With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the 60s, trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers? McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers' crimes, committed when Obama was just eight years old."[54] That month, Obama began responding to Palin's speeches on October 5, 2008, at an event in Asheville, North Carolina: "Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that they can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. That's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time."[55]

Dreams from My Father Edit

In 2008 and 2009 some conservative commentators advanced claims that Obama's autobiography, Dreams from My Father was written or ghost-written by Ayers. In a series of articles in American Thinker and WorldNetDaily, author Jack Cashill claimed that his own analysis of the book showed Ayers' writing style. In late October, US Congressman Chris Cannon and his brother-in-law attempted to hire an Oxford University professor, Peter Millican, to prove Ayers' authorship using computer analysis. Millican refused after they would not assure him in advance that his results would be published regardless of the outcome.[56][57][58][59] Millican later criticized the claim, saying variously that he had "found no evidence for Cashill's ghostwriting hypothesis," that it was "unlikely"[60] and that he felt "totally confident that it is false."[58] In his 2009 unauthorized biography Barack and Michelle, author Christopher Andersen repeated Cashill's claim.[61] When asked about the claims in 2009 Ayers said, as an apparent joke, that he wrote the book at Michelle Obama's request, setting off renewed coverage of the claims on conservative blogs.[62]

Ayers response Edit

Ayers himself kept a low profile during the controversy. After the election, he wrote an op-ed piece in which he explained:

With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre-election excitement, I saw no viable path to a rational discussion. Rather than step clumsily into the sound-bite culture, I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face. I sat it out.[63]

His post-election piece argued that the attacks on Obama had been a "profoundly dishonest drama," including a false depiction of Ayers as a terrorist ("I never killed or injured anyone") and an exaggeration of his connection to Obama ("We didn't pal around, and I had nothing to do with his positions").[63]

In a 2013 interview with the Daily Beast, Ayers said the following:

David Axelrod said we were friendly, that was true; we served on a couple of boards together, that was true; he held a fundraiser in our living room, that was true; Michelle [Obama] and Bernardine were at the law firm together, that was true. Hyde Park in Chicago is a tiny neighborhood, so when he said I was "a guy around the neighborhood," that was true. Today, I wish I knew him better and he was listening to me. Obama's not a radical. I wish he were, but he's not.[64]

Reactions to the controversy Edit

After the controversy arose, Ayers was defended by officials and others in Chicago. Mayor Richard M. Daley issued a statement in support of Bill Ayers the next day (April 17, 2008), as did the Chicago Tribune in an editorial.[65][66] On April 18, John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei of Politico wrote that questions "about Obama's association with 1960s radical William Ayers ... were entirely in-bounds. If anything, they were overdue for a front-runner and likely nominee."[67]

Ayers remained on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago.[68] Woods Fund Chair Washington said it was "ridiculous to suggest there's anything inappropriate" about the two men serving on the foundation board.[2]

In late May 2008, Michael Kinsley, a longtime critic of Ayers,[69] argued in Time that Obama's relationship with Ayers should not be a campaign issue:

If Obama's relationship with Ayers, however tangential, exposes Obama as a radical himself, or at least as a man with terrible judgment, he shares that radicalism or terrible judgment with a comically respectable list of Chicagoans and others—including Republicans and conservatives—who have embraced Ayers and Dohrn as good company, good citizens, even experts on children's issues ... Ayers and Dohrn are despicable, and yet making an issue of Obama's relationship with them is absurd.[70]

The Obama–Ayers connection was mentioned in Jerome Corsi's The Obama Nation, a book published in August and intended to help defeat Obama;[71] and in conservative author David Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama, where he wrote that the situation raised questions about Obama's judgment and influences.[72] In May and August, Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Steve Chapman suggested that while Obama was "justly criticized for his ties" to Ayers, the coverage of that connection should be matched by equal coverage of John McCain's associating with convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy.[73][74]

On September 23, 2008, Stanley Kurtz, a conservative commentator and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal after reviewing the archives of the Chicago Annenberg Exchange (CAC) at the Daley Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago.[75] In Kurtz's opinion, "Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers worked as a team to advance the CAC agenda" and "As CAC chairman, Mr. Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr. Ayers and his radical circle."[75]

Sol Stern, a longtime critic of Ayers' ideas about school reform, wrote in City Journal that "the press—and debate moderators—shouldn't let Bill Ayers and Barack Obama off the hook," and that "Calling Bill Ayers a school reformer is a bit like calling Joseph Stalin an agricultural reformer.".[76]

William C. Ibershof, the lead federal prosecutor of the Weather Underground case, wrote to The New York Times on October 9, 2008:

I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers's terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child. Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.[77]

References Edit

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    Johnson, Steve (1992-01-28). "Braun bristles as Dixon makes a push for health care reform". Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved 2012-11-01. Braun supports a system like Canada's and the one put before the U.S. House by Rep. Marty Russo (D-Ill.)...A coalition called Campaign for Better Health Care, which favors a system like Russo's, held a boisterous news conference immediately outside the hearing room Monday. 'There are 40 million people without coverage, and they hold hearings on a budget-breaking plan that won't cover everybody,' said Dr. Quentin Young, a coalition member, health adviser to Braun and president of Physicians for a National Health Plan.
    Garza, Melita Marie (1997-11-17). "Universal health care proposed". Chicago Tribune. p. 5 (Metro). Retrieved 2012-11-01. 'What a fitting way to honor Cardinal Bernardin, who was a voice of conscience, courage and compassion in the health care dialogue,' Dr. Quentin Young, president of the American Public Health Association, said at a news conference ... State Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), he said, has agreed to introduce the measure in the Senate.
    Ritter, Jim (1999-03-14). "A liberal dose of medicine; Hyde Park internist shows no signs of slowing down". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 14. Retrieved 2012-11-01. Young does a twice-monthly call-in radio show on WBEZ-FM (91.5), and like his career, the program is a blend of medicine and politics.
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    Forte, Lorraine (1997-09-28). "Legislators divided on 'get tough' reforms". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 21. Retrieved 2012-11-01. But some juvenile justice experts criticize the bill as being too harsh and written without enough public input. 'It reinforces the notion that most of the kids in (court) are dangerous, when it's 5 percent that are charged with violent offenses,' said Bernardine Dohrn, director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law...State Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), a member of the Judiciary Committee and a critic of parts of the law, said some legislators might be reluctant to vote on it without further study. 'We do need to do something. We can't just write off these kids at 14, 15, 16,' Obama said. 'But this bill's not ideal in its current form.'
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External links Edit

August 31, 2023
bill, ayers, 2008, presidential, election, controversy, during, 2008, presidential, campaign, controversy, broke, regarding, barack, obama, relationship, with, bill, ayers, professor, university, illinois, chicago, former, leader, weather, underground, radical. During the 2008 U S presidential campaign controversy broke out 1 regarding Barack Obama s relationship with Bill Ayers a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a former leader of the Weather Underground a radical left organization in the 1970s 2 Investigations by CNN The New York Times and other news organizations concluded that Obama did not have a close relationship with Ayers 3 4 5 Bill Ayers speaks to audience members following a forum on education reform at Florida State University January 12 2009 Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn hosted a gathering at their home in 1995 6 where Alice Palmer introduced Obama as her chosen successor in the Illinois State Senate 4 7 Obama and Ayers service on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago overlapped for three years from 1999 to 2002 4 6 7 The matter was first raised by the British and American press then by conservative blogs and talk radio programs 8 9 and then by moderator George Stephanopoulos during a debate between Hillary Clinton and Obama in April 2008 The Obama Ayers connection was used as a major campaign issue by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election campaign Obama has condemned Ayers past 10 11 and stated that he does not have a close association with him 6 Contents 1 Background 1 1 William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn 1 2 Interaction between Obama and Ayers 2 Presidential campaign issue 2 1 Primary debates 2 2 General election campaign 2 2 1 McCain and campaign statements 2 2 2 Obama campaign response 2 2 3 Dreams from My Father 2 3 Ayers response 3 Reactions to the controversy 4 References 5 External linksBackground EditWilliam Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn Edit Ayers was part of the five member central committee heading the Weathermen starting at its creation in the summer of 1969 12 By 1969 Dohrn had joined them Larry Grathwohl an FBI informant who was with the Weathermen from autumn 1969 through spring 1970 considered Ayers and Dohrn the two top leaders of the organization 13 In early 1970 the group had begun a series of bombings primarily of government buildings 14 that would continue into 1975 The group intentionally chose its targets to avoid human injury 15 however a bomb previously being designed in March 1970 for use at an NCO dance at Fort Dix New Jersey had claimed the lives of three members of the Weathermen who died during an accidental explosion while assembling it 15 After the accidental explosion the remaining members moved and took false identities nbsp William Ayers in 2008During their time underground Ayers and Dohrn formed a relationship that bore them two sons born in 1977 and 1980 In a late 1970s split of the group the couple joined the faction that favored surrendering to authorities In 1980 they took this step themselves They were both spared federal prosecution due to government misconduct while investigating the two Dohrn received three years probation and was fined 1 500 for the Illinois state charges but later served seven months in jail for refusal to testify to a grand jury about their former colleagues in the Weathermen 16 Ayers and Dohrn are described as fixtures of their Hyde Park Chicago neighborhood embraced by and large in the liberal circles dominating politics there according to Ben Smith a writer for The Politico 7 and their political and activist colleagues believe their achievements of the recent decades overshadow their Vietnam era radical activities 6 Ayers has been described as very respected and prominent in Chicago with a national reputation as an educator 2 In conjunction with the approaching September 10 2001 publication of a personal memoir Ayers gave an interview to The New York Times in July which they published on September 11 16 Ayers then wrote a letter to the editor stating the interview misquoted him and mischaracterized his views particularly about their reporter s claim that Ayers wished he had set more bombs This is not a question of being misunderstood or taken out of context but of deliberate distortion 17 Interaction between Obama and Ayers Edit Obama and Ayers first met at the first Chicago Annenberg Challenge board of directors meeting at noon on March 15 1995 at the headquarters of the Spencer Foundation on the 28th floor of the 900 North Michigan building in Chicago 5 18 Ayers and Anne Hallett 19 co authors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge grant proposal and leaders of the Chicago School Reform Collaborative attended six early board meetings to brief the directors 5 18 and a June 22 1995 news conference where the members of the board of directors were announced 20 On June 27 1995 state Sen Alice Palmer announced she was running for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by indicted U S Rep Mel Reynolds and would be giving up her state Senate seat instead of running for re election in 1996 21 The following week newspapers reported that Palmer supporter Obama whose memoir Dreams from My Father would be published on July 18 1995 would announce he was running and would be a front runner for Palmer s state Senate seat 22 On September 19 1995 Obama announced his candidacy for Palmer s state Senate seat to two hundred supporters at the Ramada Inn Lakeshore where Palmer introduced and endorsed Obama as her successor 23 Sometime in the second half of 1995 Ayers and Dohrn hosted a coffee for Obama in their 4th Ward Kenwood townhouse one mile northwest of the Obamas 5th Ward Hyde Park condominium 24 at which Palmer introduced Obama as her choice to succeed her as state Senator to about a dozen guests 5 7 including prominent Chicago physician Quentin Young national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program which advocates universal comprehensive single payer national health insurance 25 In his first two year term in the Illinois Senate in the 90th General Assembly 1997 1998 Obama served on the Judiciary Committee and was involved in legislating a major overhaul of the Illinois juvenile justice system 26 On June 30 1997 Ayers book A Kind and Just Parent The Children of Juvenile Court was published 27 On November 20 1997 University of Chicago Associate Dean of Students Michelle Obama s University Community Service Center s monthly discussion series held a six person panel discussion that included Ayers and Barack Obama on the juvenile justice system from 6 00 8 00 pm free and open to the public in the C Shop in the Reynolds Club student center at 5706 S University Avenue 28 In November 1993 Obama became one of the five founding directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago when it split off from the Lincoln Nebraska incorporated Woods Charitable Fund and served as a director for nine years until December 2002 29 Ayers served as a director of the Woods Fund of Chicago for nine years from December 1999 until December 2008 overlapping with Obama for three years from December 1999 until December 2002 30 Laura S Washington 31 chairwoman of the Woods Fund said the small board had a collegial friendly but businesslike atmosphere and met four times a year for a half day mostly to approve grants 6 On March 2 2001 Ayers made a 200 contribution to Obama s third campaign for the Illinois Senate 7 On April 20 2002 the University of Illinois at Chicago spring semester Liberal Arts and Sciences course LAS 400 The University and the Public Sphere Public Intellectuals and Their Social Influence concluded with a conference Intellectuals Who Needs Them that included a six person panel discussion that included Ayers and Obama on Intellectuals in Times of Crisis Experiences and applications of intellectual work in urgent situations from 2 15 3 45 pm free and open to the public in the UIC Chicago Illini Union student center at 828 S Wolcott Avenue 32 In June 2005 the Obamas purchased and moved to a 4th Ward Kenwood house on Greenwood Avenue four blocks from Ayers s townhome 24 An August 2008 USA Today article reported The last time Obama saw Ayers was about a year ago when he crossed paths with him while biking in the neighborhood says Ben LaBolt a campaign spokesman The suggestion that Ayers was a political adviser to Obama or someone who shaped his political views is patently false 33 In October 2008 The New York Times reported that Obama did not have a significant relationship with Ayers 5 In a November 2008 interview with The Washington Post Ayers said that he knew Obama only slightly I think my relationship with Obama was probably like that of thousands of others in Chicago and like millions and millions of others I wished I knew him better 34 Presidential campaign issue EditObama s contacts with Ayers had been public knowledge in Chicago for years 8 The connection was then picked up by blogs and newspapers in the United States including by The Huffington Post 35 Primary debates Edit The Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz has written that the connection between the two Chicagoans was all but ignored by the news media other than Fox until it was raised in a primary debate 36 At that Democratic Party primary debate in Philadelphia on April 16 2008 moderator George Stephanopoulos questioned Obama about his association with Ayers after conservative commentator Sean Hannity suggested the question the day before 37 Stephanopoulos asked the candidate Can you explain that relationship for the voters and explain to Democrats why it won t be a problem 38 Obama responded This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood who s a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from He s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was eight years old somehow reflects on me and my values doesn t make much sense George 6 39 Obama s response led to an exchange with Clinton in which Clinton said Senator Obama served on a board with Mr Ayers for a period of time the Woods Fund which was a paid directorship position 38 Obama then referred to President Bill Clinton s pardoning of Linda Sue Evans and Susan Rosenberg 40 two former Weather Underground members convicted for their actions after joining the splinter group May 19 Communist Organization The following Sunday Stephanopoulos asked Republican presidential candidate John McCain about Obama s patriotism and McCain responded I m sure he s very patriotic then added But his relationship with Mr Ayers is open to question 38 On May 17 as the controversy continued the Obama campaign issued their own Fact Check regarding Clinton s statements on the alleged relationship between Ayers and Obama 41 General election campaign Edit McCain and campaign statements Edit In April 2008 John McCain began to question Obama s interactions with Ayers 42 and it became an issue later in the general election campaign In August 2008 the Republican Party created the website barackbook com 43 as a spoof of Facebook on which Ayers is listed as one of Obama s friends This website contains a mocked up user profile for Ayers which describes the matter and Obama s alleged connections with him 44 That month the American Issues Project began running an ad that emphasized the relationship between the two which contained the following text Barack Obama is friends with Ayers defending him as quote Respectable and Mainstream Obama s political career was launched in Ayers s home And the two served together on a left wing board Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama 45 In October 2008 after the McCain campaign announced that it would step up attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate 46 Sarah Palin delivered speeches saying that Obama was palling around with terrorists For support Palin cited an article in The New York Times that had actually concluded that Obama and Ayers were not close The article stated that other publications including The Washington Post Time magazine The Chicago Sun Times The New Yorker and The New Republic have said that their reporting doesn t support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship 5 CNN has independently deemed Palin s allegations false saying There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now palling around or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years Also there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are 4 The Republican National Committee 47 and the McCain campaign each launched additional attack ads calling Obama too dangerous for America 48 On October 16 the McCain campaign launched a massive robocall campaign which played an automated message linking Ayers to Obama 49 Obama campaign response Edit The Obama campaign added a section about Ayers to its Fight the Smears website where it argued that the attack by a desperate McCain campaign and other groups was a smear 50 citing newspaper commentaries calling it phony 51 tenuous 52 and exaggerated at best if not outright false 53 In August 2008 the Obama campaign s attorney Robert Bauer wrote TV stations running the American Issues Project ad saying Your station is committed to operating in the public interest an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity and wrote Deputy Assistant U S Attorney General John C Keeney describing the ad as a willful attempt to evade the strictures of federal election law 45 The Obama campaign ran a TV ad of its own in selected markets that said in part With all our problems why is John McCain talking about the 60s trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers crimes committed when Obama was just eight years old 54 That month Obama began responding to Palin s speeches on October 5 2008 at an event in Asheville North Carolina Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that they can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance They d rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up That s what you do when you re out of touch out of ideas and running out of time 55 Dreams from My Father Edit In 2008 and 2009 some conservative commentators advanced claims that Obama s autobiography Dreams from My Father was written or ghost written by Ayers In a series of articles in American Thinker and WorldNetDaily author Jack Cashill claimed that his own analysis of the book showed Ayers writing style In late October US Congressman Chris Cannon and his brother in law attempted to hire an Oxford University professor Peter Millican to prove Ayers authorship using computer analysis Millican refused after they would not assure him in advance that his results would be published regardless of the outcome 56 57 58 59 Millican later criticized the claim saying variously that he had found no evidence for Cashill s ghostwriting hypothesis that it was unlikely 60 and that he felt totally confident that it is false 58 In his 2009 unauthorized biography Barack and Michelle author Christopher Andersen repeated Cashill s claim 61 When asked about the claims in 2009 Ayers said as an apparent joke that he wrote the book at Michelle Obama s request setting off renewed coverage of the claims on conservative blogs 62 Ayers response Edit Ayers himself kept a low profile during the controversy After the election he wrote an op ed piece in which he explained With the mainstream news media and the blogosphere caught in the pre election excitement I saw no viable path to a rational discussion Rather than step clumsily into the sound bite culture I turned away whenever the microphones were thrust into my face I sat it out 63 His post election piece argued that the attacks on Obama had been a profoundly dishonest drama including a false depiction of Ayers as a terrorist I never killed or injured anyone and an exaggeration of his connection to Obama We didn t pal around and I had nothing to do with his positions 63 In a 2013 interview with the Daily Beast Ayers said the following David Axelrod said we were friendly that was true we served on a couple of boards together that was true he held a fundraiser in our living room that was true Michelle Obama and Bernardine were at the law firm together that was true Hyde Park in Chicago is a tiny neighborhood so when he said I was a guy around the neighborhood that was true Today I wish I knew him better and he was listening to me Obama s not a radical I wish he were but he s not 64 Reactions to the controversy EditAfter the controversy arose Ayers was defended by officials and others in Chicago Mayor Richard M Daley issued a statement in support of Bill Ayers the next day April 17 2008 as did the Chicago Tribune in an editorial 65 66 On April 18 John F Harris and Jim VandeHei of Politico wrote that questions about Obama s association with 1960s radical William Ayers were entirely in bounds If anything they were overdue for a front runner and likely nominee 67 Ayers remained on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago 68 Woods Fund Chair Washington said it was ridiculous to suggest there s anything inappropriate about the two men serving on the foundation board 2 In late May 2008 Michael Kinsley a longtime critic of Ayers 69 argued in Time that Obama s relationship with Ayers should not be a campaign issue If Obama s relationship with Ayers however tangential exposes Obama as a radical himself or at least as a man with terrible judgment he shares that radicalism or terrible judgment with a comically respectable list of Chicagoans and others including Republicans and conservatives who have embraced Ayers and Dohrn as good company good citizens even experts on children s issues Ayers and Dohrn are despicable and yet making an issue of Obama s relationship with them is absurd 70 The Obama Ayers connection was mentioned in Jerome Corsi s The Obama Nation a book published in August and intended to help defeat Obama 71 and in conservative author David Freddoso s The Case Against Barack Obama where he wrote that the situation raised questions about Obama s judgment and influences 72 In May and August Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Steve Chapman suggested that while Obama was justly criticized for his ties to Ayers the coverage of that connection should be matched by equal coverage of John McCain s associating with convicted Watergate burglar G Gordon Liddy 73 74 On September 23 2008 Stanley Kurtz a conservative commentator and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center wrote an op ed in The Wall Street Journal after reviewing the archives of the Chicago Annenberg Exchange CAC at the Daley Library of the University of Illinois at Chicago 75 In Kurtz s opinion Mr Obama and Mr Ayers worked as a team to advance the CAC agenda and As CAC chairman Mr Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr Ayers and his radical circle 75 Sol Stern a longtime critic of Ayers ideas about school reform wrote in City Journal that the press and debate moderators shouldn t let Bill Ayers and Barack Obama off the hook and that Calling Bill Ayers a school reformer is a bit like calling Joseph Stalin an agricultural reformer 76 William C Ibershof the lead federal prosecutor of the Weather Underground case wrote to The New York Times on October 9 2008 I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr Obama was as he has noted just a child Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen including Bill Ayers I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen 77 References Edit Sources calling this a controversy include The Obama Hate Machine MacMillan The 2008 Presidential Elections Palgrave MacMillen Radical in Chief Simon 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Tempo Retrieved 2012 11 01 Morgan Angie 1992 01 10 Dems push universal health care Chicago Sun Times p 17 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Sen Alice Palmer of Chicago and Rep Janice D Schakowsky of Evanston are pushing legislation modeled after the Canadian health care system The system would harness rampant health care inflation says the Campaign for Better Health Care an umbrella group working for passage of the legislation Johnson Steve 1992 01 28 Braun bristles as Dixon makes a push for health care reform Chicago Tribune p 2 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Braun supports a system like Canada s and the one put before the U S House by Rep Marty Russo D Ill A coalition called Campaign for Better Health Care which favors a system like Russo s held a boisterous news conference immediately outside the hearing room Monday There are 40 million people without coverage and they hold hearings on a budget breaking plan that won t cover everybody said Dr Quentin Young a coalition member health adviser to Braun and president of Physicians for a National Health Plan Garza Melita Marie 1997 11 17 Universal health care proposed Chicago Tribune p 5 Metro Retrieved 2012 11 01 What a fitting way to honor Cardinal Bernardin who was a voice of conscience courage and compassion in the health care dialogue Dr Quentin Young president of the American Public Health Association said at a news conference State Sen Barack Obama D Chicago he said has agreed to introduce the measure in the Senate Ritter Jim 1999 03 14 A liberal dose of medicine Hyde Park internist shows no signs of slowing down Chicago Sun Times p 14 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Young does a twice monthly call in radio show on WBEZ FM 91 5 and like his career the program is a blend of medicine and politics Dodge Susan 2000 03 06 Mikva endorses Obama in 1st Dist Chicago Sun Times p 9 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Obama 37 also was endorsed Sunday by Dr Quentin Young an advocate for universal health care Thomas Mike 2008 04 26 Legendary doctor retires MLK Abbie Hoffman were patients now health care activism is his focus Chicago Sun Times p 4 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Obama Barack 1997 04 16 Springfield report Rethinking approach to juvenile crime Hyde Park Herald p 4 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Obama Barack 1997 06 18 Springfield report Legislature squandered opportunity Hyde Park Herald p 4 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Forte Lorraine 1997 09 28 Legislators divided on get tough reforms Chicago Sun Times p 21 Retrieved 2012 11 01 But some juvenile justice experts criticize the bill as being too harsh and written without enough public input It reinforces the notion that most of the kids in court are dangerous when it s 5 percent that are charged with violent offenses said Bernardine Dohrn director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law State Sen Barack Obama D Chicago a member of the Judiciary Committee and a critic of parts of the law said some legislators might be reluctant to vote on it without further study We do need to do something We can t just write off these kids at 14 15 16 Obama said But this bill s not ideal in its current form Strausberg Chinta 1997 11 01 Caucus seeks summit with Devine to halt juvenile bill Chicago Defender p 4 Strausberg Chinta 1997 12 03 Obama Juvenile justice system flawed Chicago Defender p 3 Strausberg Chinta 1998 01 12 Juvenile justice bill in jeopardy Obama says he s not sure votes are there Chicago Defender p 1 Parsons Christi 1998 01 14 Youths could face new system of justice reform plan targets juvenile offenders Chicago Tribune p 1 Metro Chicago Retrieved 2012 11 01 Strausberg Chinta 1998 01 26 Youth justice bill takes another hit Chicago Defender p 3 Strausberg Chinta 1998 01 28 Juvenile justice bill OKd most Black Caucus in House vote against controversial measure Chicago Defender p 1 Clements Kate 1998 01 28 Bill would have juvenile offenders fingerprinted Daily Herald Arlington Heights p 11 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Wiser Mike 1998 01 28 New juvenile bill tough on crime high on controversy measure allows two sentences for guilty youths The Pantagraph p A7 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Serati Ray 1998 01 28 Juvenile justice measure sails through House 104 9 The State Journal Register p 7 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Chase Marc 1998 01 29 State Senate OKs measure cracking down on juveniles Chicago Sun Times p 3 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Chase Marc 1998 01 30 Bill lets victim into youth trials Chicago Sun Times p 14 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Parsons Christi Cetera Mike 1998 01 30 Edgar plans face early resistance opposition arises in legislature high court Chicago Tribune p 7 Metro Chicago Retrieved 2012 11 01 Serati Ray 1998 01 30 Bill would revamp Illinois juvenile law Edgar to consider measure that would give more rights to victims Peoria Journal Star p A5 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Serati Ray 1998 01 30 Juvenile justice overhaul measure passes Senate 50 2 The State Journal Register p 6 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Strausberg Chinta 1998 01 31 Youth crime bill OKd by Senate controversial juvenile justice measure awaits Edgar s signature Chicago Defender p 1 editorial 1998 02 02 Juvenile crime bill is deeply flawed Chicago Defender p 9 Parsons Christi 1998 02 04 Tougher sentencing for youths awaits Edgar OK Chicago Tribune p 10 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Parsons Christi 1998 04 25 Juvenile reform act gets Edgar backing goal is to toughen teen punishment Chicago Tribune p 5 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Serati Ray 1998 04 25 Governor changes juvenile justice bill conditional OK sends his version back to lawmakers Peoria Journal Star p B7 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Erickson Kurt Wiser Mike 1998 05 06 Senate OKs juvenile justice reforms The Pantagraph p A5 Retrieved 2012 11 01 O Connor John 1998 05 06 Lawmakers urge school law be changed The State Journal Register p 3 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Erickson Kurt 1998 05 19 House cracks down on juveniles measure blends adult kid penalties The Pantagraph p A5 Retrieved 2012 11 01 Piscia Jason 1998 05 19 House approves changes to juvenile 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2008 Retrieved 2008 10 12 An Almost Oppo Free Zone The Hotline 2008 04 16 Archived from the original on 15 September 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 13 Fact Check on Obama and Ayers Archived 2008 05 01 at the Wayback Machine Barack Obama campaign website April 17 2008 Cooper Michael 2008 05 08 Republicans Focus on Obama as Fall Opponent The New York Times Retrieved 2008 10 13 barackbook com Marinucci Carla 2008 08 08 Campaign nastiness starts early San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved 2008 10 18 a b Kuhnhenn Jim 2008 08 25 Obama seeks to silence ad tying him to 60s radical Denver Post Associated Press Retrieved 2018 04 29 Obama campaign rejects Palin terrorist gibe CNN 2008 10 05 Archived from the original on 13 October 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 13 Cillizza Chris 2008 10 08 RNC Uses Ayers in New Ads The Washington Post No The Fix Retrieved 2008 10 13 Web Ad Ayers John McCain presidential campaign 2008 2008 10 08 Archived from the original on 13 October 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 13 McCain campaign s 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tarnish Barack Obama The Sunday Times London a b Thomas Burr Congressman Cannon questions Obama authorship Archived 2009 05 16 at the Wayback Machine Salt Lake Tribune 11 03 2008 courtesy link to article lede http qa politicswest com node 32523 print Archived 2011 07 15 at archive today Obama book under scrutiny United Press International November 2 2008 Peter Millican Barack Obama s Dreams from My Father Archived from the original on 2009 06 28 Tymon Smith 2009 10 03 Dreams from Obama s ghostwriter Critics say he did not write his 1995 memoir alone Johannesburg Times Brian Montopoli 2009 10 07 Bill Ayers Book Comment Sets Blogs Abuzz CBS News a b Ayers William December 6 2008 The Real Bill Ayers The New York Times pp A21 Exclusive Bill Ayers On the Weathermen Obama s Crap Job amp More Dorning Mike Rick Pearson 2008 04 17 Daley Don t tar Obama for Ayers Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on August 21 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 17 Tribune editorial April 18 2008 Guilt by association The Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on July 22 2008 Retrieved 2009 04 30 Obama s secret weapon The media Archived 2013 03 10 at the Wayback Machine by John F Harris and Jim VandeHei Politico April 18 2008 Board of Directors and Officers Woods Fund website Archived from the original on January 4 2008 Smith Ben 2008 05 30 Kinsley on Ayers Ben Smith s Blog Politico Retrieved 2008 06 01 Kinsley Michael 2008 05 29 Rejecting Obama s Radical Friends Time Archived from the original on May 31 2008 Retrieved 2008 06 01 Book Attacking Obama Hopes to Repeat 04 Anti Kerry Feat The New York Times August 12 2008 Freddoso David 2008 The Case Against Barack Obama Washington D C Regnery Publishing pp 122 123 ISBN 978 1 59698 566 7 Chapman Steve 2008 08 22 Obama s radical friend Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on 26 October 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 18 Chapman Steve 2008 05 04 With friends like these Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on 25 October 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 18 a b Kurtz Stanley 2008 09 23 Obama and Ayers pushed radicalism on schools op ed The Wall Street Journal p A29 Archived from the original on 2008 10 11 Retrieved 2008 10 08 The Bomber as School Reformer City Journal 6 October 2008 Ibershof William C 2008 10 09 Prosecuting Weathermen Letter to the Editor The New York Times Archived from the original on May 12 2011 Retrieved 2008 10 18 External links EditFact Check on Obama and Ayers Organizing for America April 17 2008 He Lied About Bill Ayers FactCheck org October 10 2008 Putting on Ayers Snopes December 6 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bill Ayers 2008 presidential election controversy amp oldid 1153774280, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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