McCain Trumpets Endorsement From Figure Of Foundation That Established Ayers Board

On Wednesday morning, John McCain's campaign released a list of 100 former ambassadors endorsing the GOP presidential nominee.

Second on the list, though her name is misspelled, is Leonore Annenberg, currently the president and chairman of the Annenberg Foundation and widow of ambassador and philanthropist Walter Annenberg. Ms. Annenberg was herself the "chief of protocol" at the State Department under President Reagan.

If the last name sounds familiar, it's because it also graces the name of the Chicago education board where Barack Obama and William Ayers sat in the room six times together.

In recent days, the McCain-Palin ticket (and particularly Palin) has faulted Obama for having served on that board with Ayers, who was a founding member of the radical 60's Weather Underground group when Obama was in grade school.

Since then, however, Ayers has been rehabilitated in Chicago society, carving out a niche in education circles. As a former Republican representative in Illinois told NPR on Monday, smearing Obama for his board association with Ayers is "nonsensical."

"It was never a concern by any of us in the Chicago school reform movement that he had led a fugitive life years earlier ... It's ridiculous," Republican Rep. Diana Nelson said. "There is no reason at all to smear Barack Obama with this association. It's nonsensical, and it just makes me crazy. It's so silly."

Separate calls to the Pennsylvania and California offices of the Annenberg Foundation were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.

UPDATE: An Annenberg official called the Huffington Post back on Wednesday afternoon. "You wanted to speak to Ms. Annenberg? She's very elderly; she doesn't do press interviews."

Comments

[justobserve]

Palin never knows ANYTHING outside of her Alaska and McCain is so desperate that he let her do the attacking dog. Unfortunately Palin is living in the glass house herself, a house full of glass that her throwing stones will break her and McCain BEFORE anyone else. Well, the Christian values that I knew say that if you don't live your life the way you preach, your actions will come back to haunt you. Palin is NO Christian, she only used it to get votes for her own ambition. McCAIN-2008: YOU ARE BUSH-AGAINST-McCAIN-2000. PALIN: EMPTY-HEADED FRAUD. GAMBLE OUR COUNTRY WITH TWO DIVISIVE, RECKLESS RACISTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE?

[123dee]

This a typical m.o. for McCain, he has always used women.

[ashisu84]

No crap.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

[BowlingForRevenge]

It's not just McCain...it's the REPUBLICAN PARTY.

KAREN HUGHES
ANN COULTER
MICHELLE MALKIN
MARY MATALIN
BAY BUCHANAN
BARBARA COMSTOCK
KATIE LEVINSON AND ON AND ON AND ON

WOMEN FIRST...LET THEM TAKE THE BULLETS

[jannike]

Used? Nobody uses Palin. She uses everybody.

The day after he had chosen her for VP, the Norwegian newspaper wrote on the front page that McCain had shot himself in his foot, but some days later regretted that headline. But now they can use the same headline again!

To say it in Palin language: Hallelujah

[koyak23]

a girly man coward ...

[Marlyn]

"he let her do the attacking dog."

I wonder if she'll be Colbert's Alpha Dog of the Week?

[exmate]

I do not understand how McCain is getting so much mileage out of Bill Ayres. It is not as if he were Al Qaeda.

Bill Ayres protested the Vietnam war with three explosions (when Obama was 8 years old) which I do not condone. No one was killed or injured but it did cost the government some money . The notion that Obama had a close relationship with Ayres is hokey and contrived.

Charles Keating was not only close to McCain* but was helped by him, by leaning on regulators in the process of Keating causing 20,000 people to lose their life savings and costing the taxpayers 2 billion for the bailout of Lincoln Savings.

Keating was a bad person. Ayres not so much.


* McCain, his family and their babysitter were flown in Keatings private plane to his vacation home in the Bahamas 9-10 times .

[Lugdunum]

WHOA! Dude, not so fast on those "Ambassadors" for McCain. That list is full of "POLITICALLY NOMINATED" Ambassadors, those named Ambassador by some other Republican administration, often in exchange (the lesser-known ones) for big campaign donations.

THESE are the REAL Foreign Service Officers.........this site lists the names of current and retired Foreign Service Officers for......Obama.

http://foreignpolicyforobama.com/2008/09/11/declaration-of-support-by-over-280-former-diplomats-updated/

[moreupnorth]

Excellent comment! Nice piece of research!

[argent1]

Mcain needs a cane and a Mac for the pouring rain.

[loax]

Oops!

[fedupinpa]

so I guess they both have an association with Ayers. Is Obama a good friend of Gordon Liddy , another domestic terrorist, also?

[EmjayRussell]

Speaking of serious association, Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore points out the relationships of McCain and Palin to G. Gordon Liddy, and compares with Ayers:

http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/palin-pallin-withhypocrisy/

[fedupinpa]

everyone should go read this and send it to their friends. I would send it to Sarah Palin and John McCain if I knew how.

[boophus]

Fabulous. Very clear layout of the Gordon Liddy vs Ayers association negatives.
From Shannons post :
"Did Palin know Liddy was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, wiretapping, contempt of court and contempt of Congress? Did Palin know Liddy was willing to kill a janitor and a journalist as part of the Watergate cover-up? Did Palin know Liddy admitted plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution? What about the plan to kidnap protesters at the 1972 Republican National Convention? Did Palin not know Liddy served a more than four years in prison? Or did Sarah Palin, like John McCain, celebrate and consider Liddy’s terrorist activities to be “principles and philosophies that keep our nation great?” "

[sophistwatch]

The louder he screams about this the more it undercuts his credibility. He has nothing else of substance to talk about or it would have come out last night.

McCain on Ayers and Obama. This one is associated with "that one".

[caterpol]

Since the McCain camp openly admitted the reason they're going negative is to get the attention off the economy, you can't see this Ayers nonsense for anything but a bunch of phony outrage over absolutely nothing.

[moreupnorth]

Just goes to show how stupid McCain and his campaign think people are. Tell them we are pulling the wool over there eyes and they will not notice!

[MawMaw4Obama]

And the Main Stream Media is even more stupid for airing this garbage.

[ammagirl]

Gallup Daily: Obama’s Lead Over McCain Expands to 11 NEW
October 8, 2008
Barack Obama holds an 11-point lead over John McCain in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report, 52% to 41%. This is the Obama’s highest level of support to date, and also represents his largest lead of the campaign.

[ginxy]

It really seems like the gop are just trying to create a diversion with this Mc/P circus nonsense.

Are we missing something (besides $850b) or are they really this moronic?

[ricitizen]

Barack Obama holds an 11-point lead over John McCain in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report, 52% to 41%. This is the Obama’s highest level of support to date, and also represents his largest lead of the campaign.

[balthus]

Has anyone ever thrown in the towel in a Presidential race before?

A Depends?

[SheriChardonnay]

ha lmao!

[DaveC19]

You know, I sat in a classroom in highschool with a guy and even talked to him a few times. He went on to steal cars later in life. I guess that makes me a criminal too by the McCain campaign "logic".

That kind of logic is how he is running his campaign? And the polls are close WHY?

[Mayoyo]

Too many Ambiens!!!!!