"Our Jim Acosta talked with your
senior strategist David Axelrod about this. In 1995,
William Ayers held kind of a get-to-know you event at
his place where he was introducing Barack Obama to the
political culture there in Chicago when he was running
for the State Senate for the first time. David Axelrod
said that at that meeting Senator Obama was not aware of
Ayers' radical background." -- CNN's John Roberts
MEDIA ADVISORY, October 6 /Standard
Newswire/ -- The following is the review of CNN's
"American Morning" on October 6, 2008:
CNN's John Roberts: "I just want to try
to get to the heart of it so that people at home can
understand. Our Jim Acosta talked with your senior
strategist David Axelrod about this. In 1995, William
Ayers held kind of a get-to-know you event at his place
where he was introducing Barack Obama to the political
culture there in Chicago when he was running for the
State Senate for the first time. David Axelrod said that
at that meeting Senator Obama was not aware of Ayers'
radical background. Is that true?"
Obama Senior Strategist Robert Gibbs:
"Look, if that's what David said, that is true. Look,
again, this is a relationship, excuse me, that Barack
Obama has condemned the actions of Bill Ayers. This is
somebody that The New York Times said Barack Obama's not
close to, and, again, John, this is a way of distracting
the American people from what's important."
Watch the New
Obama Campaign Defense
FACT CHECK: Axelrod Has Said Ayers and
Obama Are "Certainly Friendly," And The Obama Campaign
Has NEVER BEFORE SAID Obama Didn't Know Ayers' Radical
And Violent History -- But Has Referred To Him As
"Respected Advisor" To Chicago Mayor
When Politico First Reported On Obama's
1995 Meeting At William Ayers' Home Reportedly Launching
His Campaign, The Obama Campaign Never Said He Didn't
Know Ayers' Radical History. "In 1995, State Senator
Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack
Obama, to a few of the district's influential liberals
at the home of two well known figures on the local left:
William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. While Ayers and
Dohrn may be thought of in Hyde Park as local activists,
they're better known nationally as two of the most
notorious -- and unrepentant -- figures from the violent
fringe of the 1960s anti-war movement. ... I can
remember being one of a small group of people who came
to Bill Ayers' house to learn that Alice Palmer was
stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,'
said Dr. Quentin Young, a prominent Chicago physician
and advocate for single-payer health care, of the
informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife,
Dohrn. [Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.'
Obama's campaign dismisses the notion that his
relationship with Ayers should be seen through the lens
of the latter's violent past, or his present lack of
regret for the bombings. ... He described Ayers as a
professor of education at the University of
Illinois-Chicago and a former aide to Mayor Richard J.
Daley,' referring to printed reports that he had
"advised" Daley on school reform. Dr. Young and another
guest, Maria Warren, described it similarly: as an
introduction to Hyde Park liberals of the handpicked
successor to Palmer, a well-regarded figure on the left.
When I first met Barack Obama, he was giving a standard,
innocuous little talk in the living room of those two
legends-in-their-own-minds, Bill Ayers and Bernardine
Dohrn,' Warren wrote on her blog in 2005. They were
launching him -- introducing him to the Hyde Park
community as the best thing since sliced bread.'" (Ben
Smith, "Obama Once Visited 60s Radicals," The Politico,
1/22/08)
When Senator Hillary Clinton Made Similar
Attack, Obama Campaign NEVER Made Argument That He
Didn't Know About Obama's Radical And Violent Past.
(Obama For America, "Fact Check On Obama And Ayers,
factcheck.barackobama.com, 4/17/08)
Obama Campaign Argued That Ayers Was
"Respected Advisor" To Chicago Mayor Daley, And That
"Charges Against Ayers Were Dropped And He Served No
Time." (Obama For America, "Fact Check On Obama And
Ayers, factcheck.barackobama.com, 4/17/08)
Axelrod Has Previously Said Obama And
Ayers Are "Certainly Friendly." AXELROD: "They're
certainly friendly, they know each other, as anyone
whose kids go to school together." (Ben Smith, "Ax On
Ayers," www.politico.com, 2/26/08)
Two Years After Meeting Ayers, Obama Published "Rave Review" Of Ayers' Book In The Chicago Tribune, And Jointly Appeared On Academic Panels Together. "The two men were involved in efforts to reform the city's education system. They appeared together on academic panels, including one organized by Michelle Obama to discuss the juvenile justice system, an area of mutual concern. Mr. Ayers's book on the subject won a rave review in The Chicago Tribune by Mr. Obama, who called it a searing and timely account.'" (Jo Becker and Christopher Drew, "Pragmatic Politics, Forged On The South Side," The New York Times, 5/11/08)