Bill Ayers 2008 presidential election controversy

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

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]

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 deemed a major campaign issue by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential election campaign. Obama condemned Ayers' past,[10][11] and stated that he did not have a close association with him.[6]

  1. ^ Sources calling this a controversy include: The Obama Hate Machine, (MacMillan); The 2008 Presidential Elections, Palgrave MacMillen; Radical-in-Chief (Simon and Schuster); Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms (ABC-CLIO).
  2. ^ Drogin, Bob; Morain, Dan (2008-04-18). "Obama and the former radicals; evidence linking him to the ex-leaders of the Weather Underground is thin. But a YouTube video is making noise". Los Angeles Times. p. A20. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  3. ^ Stewart, Martina (2008-10-05). "Palin hits Obama for 'terrorist' connection". CNN. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  4. ^ a b c "Fact Check: Is Obama 'palling around with terrorists'? Gov. Palin commented about Sen. Obama and William Ayers at a rally in Carson, California Saturday". CNN. 2008-10-05. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  5. ^ Shane, Scott (2008-10-04). "Obama and '60s bomber: a look into crossed paths". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  6. ^ a b c Slevin, Peter (2008-04-18). "Former '60s radical is now considered mainstream in Chicago". The Washington Post. p. A4. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  7. ^ a b Smith, Ben (2008-02-22). "Obama once visited '60s radicals". Politico. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Boston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Dobbs, Michael (2008-02-19). "Obama's 'Weatherman' Connection". The Washington Post. No. The Fact Checker. Archived from the original on 2011-05-23.
  10. ^ Scheiber, Noam (2008-02-22). "Parsing the Ayers allegation". The New Republic. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  11. ^ "Campaigns do battle over Ayers, Keating". CBS News. 2008-10-06. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-11-22.