What of the Barack Obama-Bill Ayres relationship?

Snopes comments on the rumors of their relationship; "Partly true"

FactCheck.org:  McCain cranks out some false and misleading attacks on Obama's connection to a 1960s radical.    ... "We wrote back then that Clinton had gone too far by suggesting that "people died" as a result of Ayers’ actions. And nothing Obama said then has since been shown to be false. It is true that he did not bring up his work with Ayers on a second project, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, where Obama was board chairman and Ayers was an early organizer, and where the two were together for half a dozen or so meetings. But neither Clinton nor Stephanopoulos asked him about that project. McCain could fairly accuse Obama of not volunteering the information, but it is false to claim he "lied.' "

WND

Ayers dishes details on relationship with Obama   ... "Ayers did not discuss the role he and his Weather Underground wife, Bernardine Dohrn, played in launching Obama’s public career. In 1995, Ayers and Dohrn held in the living room of their Hyde Park home the first fundraiser for Obama in his effort to win a seat in the Illinois state Senate.
"In 1985, the Woods Foundation gave a $25,000 grant to the Developing Communities Project in Chicago that allowed the DCP to hire Obama, then 24 years old.
"It was the job offer that allowed Obama to move from New York City to Chicago.
"Ayers was a director of the Woods Foundation for nine years, from December 1999 to December 2008, overlapping with Obama for three years, with Obama serving on the board from December 1999 to December 2002." ..

Truth or Fiction;  Controversy Over Senator Obama's Relationship With William Ayers-Truth!   ... "Critics said a special investigations unit composed of Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston from CNN looked into the Ayers story and concluded that "the relationship between Obama and Ayers went deeper, ran longer and was more political than Obama -- and his surrogates."   

The CNN story said that:       A review of board minutes and records by CNN show Obama, crossed paths repeatedly with Ayers at board meetings of the Annenberg Challenge Project in Chicago. For seven years, Ayers and Obama -- among many others -- worked on funding for education projects, including some projects advocated by Ayers. While working on the Annenberg project, Obama and Ayers also served together on a second charitable foundation, the Woods Fund, and that among the Woods Fund recipients was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church where Obama had his church membership. Obama praised Ayers' book on the subject of juvenile justice in a 1997 Chicago Tribune review, calling it "a searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair.    Stanley Kurtz in the WSJ: Obama and Ayers Pushed Radicalism On Schools   "The Obama campaign has cried foul when Bill Ayers comes up, claiming "guilt by association." Yet the issue here isn't guilt by association; it's guilt by participation. As CAC chairman, Mr. Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr. Ayers and his radical circle. That is a story even if Mr. Ayers had never planted a single bomb 40 years ago."   Breitbart; Ayers and Obama: What the Media Hid   ... "Ayers methods have certainly changed since the 60s, but his commitment to bringing down the American system has been a constant throughout his life. Therefore, it's fair to ask what Obama saw in Ayers, the committed anti-capitalist radical. It's also fair to ask why the NY Times (and the rest of the media) were so quick to dismiss the import of the connection. No one is saying Obama and Ayers were part of a secret cabal, but they do seem to have been friends over a period of years, so presumably they had something in common. Given Ayers' consistently extreme views on America and government, isn't that worth exploring?"