In 2008, sitting in front of Bill O’Reilly, Barack Obama may only remember unrepentant Weather Underground domestic terrorist Bill Ayers as “some guy I know.” But in a newly unearthed video (below) shot during his failed House of Representatives bid in 2000, Obama cited his association with the man who bombed the Capitol and Pentagon and still doesn’t feel he did enough as one of his primary qualifications for the office.
In 2000, as now, few people believed Obama’s experience qualified him for the job he was seeking. He wound up losing badly in the primary that year. That’s correct, in his home town and among voters in his own party, he was deemed too inexperienced and unqualified to serve in the US House of Representatives just 8 years ago.
He was asked about his thin resume and short stint in the Illinois State Senate during an interview with a Chicago television station.
Well, I’m in my second term, but it’s true that certainly both Senator Trotter and Congressman Rush have been in elected office longer than I have. I can’t deny that.
I would argue, though, that my experience previous to elected office equips me for the job. You know, I have a background as an attorney. I’ve represented affordable housing organizations to build affordable housing [ed. with convicted felon Tony Rezko at his side], something that is a major issue in the district. I’ve chaired major philanthropic efforts in the city, like the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that gave $50 million to prop school reform efforts throughout the city.
The Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) was founded by unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers with grant money Ayers procured from the Annenberg Institute. Reports indicate that Ayers hired Obama to head the foundation, which he did from 1995-2000. The school reform efforts of Obama and Ayers were miserable failures.
The CAC records were donated to the University of Illinois by an anonymous donor, and were mysteriously sealed when journalist Stanley Kurtz asked to review them. The University later claimed the sealing was a misunderstanding, and granted Kurtz access. His review is ongoing.
Obama, who says Ayers is just another of the “thousands of people” he knows, began his career in politics at a “Meet the Candidate” function in the home of Ayers and fellow Weather Underground member Bernadine Dorn. Obama and Ayers also sat together on the board of the Woods Fund, a group concerned with poverty.
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Barack Hussein Obama, Bill Ayers, Chicago, William AyersOne Response to “Obama Cited Ayers Association As Qualification In 2000 Run”
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Get yer facts straight. Ayers didn’t hire Obama to run the AC – Obama wasn’t hired to run it. He was a volunteer board member, not staff. And the AC was a success – our schools still benefit from the work done by the AC.