I live near both Obama and Ayers. Ayers is now a member of the mainstream Chicago progressive circle. He serves on city charities, was an education aide to Mayor Daley, and is a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois – Chicago.
His wife, Bernadine Dohrn, is now the director of the Children’s Rights Clinic at Northwestern University Law School and has taught courses at the University of Chicago. She is an important children’s rights advocate in the Chicago area.
I think the real thing that is missing from the discussion on Ayers and Dohrn is some context on Hyde Park (this is what I'd like readers to be able to get a better idea of):
Hyde Park is a small community on the South Side of Chicago that is surrounded by many high crime areas (basically the most violent parts of Chicago). Hyde Park, referred to as the jewel of the South Side, is basically like living on an island. The Hyde Park area is only 14 blocks long and many people who live here send their children to the same school – the University of Chicago lab schools (though there are also some great public schools like Kenwood Academy!). The community has only one major supermarket, and most people who live here run across each other at some point because of how small the neighborhood is. However, the community is diverse – the neighborhood ranges from politicians like Barack Obama, Carol Moseley Braun, the late Harold Washington to academics like Cass Sunstein, Martha Nussbaum, Gary Becker, Richard Epstein, Richard Posner, and the late Saul Bellow. The community also has some ex-radicals like William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, who are now mainstream academic/progressive figures in Chicago.
If you live in this small neighborhood for 20 years, it is likely that you will run across Ayers or Dohrn. This is especially the case for Obama, as he was the State Senator for this community, was an important member of the Chicago Democratic Community, served on local charities, taught at the University of Chicago Law School (and spoke at conferences with people like Ayers – a professor at University of Illinois-Chicago and Dohrn – a professor at Northwestern Law School who also teaches at the University of Chicago). This "Hannity" story is ridiculous and it reflects how bad the media has become.
Update: Thanks for helping me make the rec list - it is our job to spread the truth and stop the swiftboat campaigns against Barack. I have run into Senator Obama in Hyde Park and I can tell you this neighborhood is behind him. I think he won over 90% of the primary vote here! Obama 08!
Further Update: Also, I wanted to add that Barack has not limited himself to Hyde Park in terms of his experience in Chicago - his Church is farther South (in an area that has a large amount of crime and poverty) and he spent his time in community organizing helping the lower income areas of Chicago.