Much has been made over the alleged connection, mostly in a teacher-student setting, between William "Bill" Ayers and Barack Obama. The fact that Bill Ayers is a former member of 1960's radical group, Weathermen Underground, and Barack Obama is the Democratic presidential candidate and current poll frontrunner has NOTHING to do with this alleged connection coming out in the news now [/sarcasm].

The New York Times ran a story this past Saturday on the tenuous (at best) connection between the two individuals at the heart of the story. (Story here, free registration required.) It shows, beyond anything but Republican partisan beliefs, that the relationship between the two men is distant and that they were anything but close.

In the Republican right-wing conspiracy mindset, this is the same thing as being bosom-buddies. This is the same idea that continues to pop up, even within the Republican campaign. This past weekend, Sarah Palin--the Republican vice presidential candidate--tied the two men together and inferred that Barack Obama is pushing a socialist agenda because of his alleged ties to Ayers. Unfortunately for her claims of veracity, the very same New York Times article she referenced (which I have also referenced above) says that the two were never close.

With John McCain's poll numbers falling and the fact that McCain has pulled out of Michigan, despite outspending Obama and the advantage of an unpopular Democratic governor and convicted Detroit mayor, Republicans are not becoming desperate to pull down Obama by any means at their disposal. Truth, which has already been a casualty in the McCain campaign, just had last rites pronounced on it.

This is the same John McCain who swore earlier this year that he would not invoke Bill Ayers during the campaign. Desperation apparently means anything goes.

This is also the same John McCain who once had a Straight Talk Express, but his straight-talking is rolling off of a forked tongue.

Here's a challenge for Republicans. Try speaking to the American people about what you are going to do better for them instead of lying about what the Democrats are going to do or not do. Let Barack Obama and Joe Biden do the speaking for the Democratic Party, since they are in a position and have demonstrated they can be more truthful and knowledgeable about what they are going to do.