Former radical Ayers distances himself from Obama

[November 14, 2008]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Vietnam-era radical Bill Ayers says he knows President-elect Barack Obama no better than thousands of other people in Chicago.

In an interview Friday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Ayers distanced himself from Obama. Ayers said -- for example -- the two didn't even meet before Ayers hosted an event at his home for Obama.

Ayers said the relationship was based on things like improving schools in their Chicago neighborhood -- not on Ayers' political views.

In the new release of his 2001 memoir "Fugitive Days," an afterword refers to the two as "neighbors and family friends."

[Associated Press]

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