A Wall Street Journal op-ed published earlier in the week brought attention back to the connection between Senator Obama and a former domestic terrorist--a connection couched in Mr. Obama's experience in education reform. So it merits asking, who is Bill Ayers and what difference should it make in our estimation of the Democratic candidate for President of the United States?

This much is uncontested: Bill Ayers participated in the bombings of several public monuments, including the New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the US Capitol Building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. He was a leading member of a radical, leftist terrorist organization called the Weatherman. He spent a short period of time in jail after turning himself in for these crimes in 1980. And he is affiliated with US Senator Barack Obama.

But what is the nature of that affiliation? And perhaps more importantly, what does Bill Ayers believe and how does he act today? Without question, if Senator Obama has in any way shown signs of supporting Mr. Ayers admittedly guilty and radical past, his candidacy would be suspect. But there is no evidence that this is the case.

To begin with, the connection between Senator Obama and Mr. Ayers comes down to three principal items. First, and most notably, they served together on a Chicago school reform initiative called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an effort designed community partnerships with local public schools that was also launched in fifteen other communities. Also serving on the board of the Annenberg Challenge in Chicago were individuals such as Patricia Graham, former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Arnold Weber, former president of Northwestern University.

How, you might ask, did a self-admitted domestic terrorist come to rise to lead a well-funded and well-reputed school reform initiative? Because Mr. Ayers, since his days as a leftist terrorist, has gone on the straight and narrow. He is currently a distinguished professor of education at the University of Chicago who has garnered attention for his academic efforts in pedagogy, along the way working with officials such as Chicago Mayor Richard Daly and others.

The second connection is that Mr. Ayers and Senator Obama also served together on the board of an anti-poverty foundation called the Woods Fund of Chicago, which continues to provide support to organizations that seek to educate and empower low-income residents of Chicago. Thirdly, Mr. Ayers contributed $200 to Senator Obama's Illinois State Senate election campaign in 2001.

So does Mr. Obama support a hyper-radical leftist ideology of domestic terrorism? Does he support some unorthodox, militant view of the role of public education? There is no evidence of it. After all, Senator Obama was only eight years old when Bill Ayers committed initial, unjustifiable acts of violence. But I'd love to hear facts about their relationship and how it might impact the next five weeks if you have evidence or conclusions that I've missed here!