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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (32962)	2/19/2009 10:43:49 AM
From: Peter Dierks	2 Recommendations Respond to of 71588

Not recent but good background: Did Obama Have an Affair with Vera Baker Recently? Posted on October 12, 2008 The rumors are swirling, but I never heard them. The first I heard of them was in this preemptive defense calling them smears. Larry Johnson is talking this up, but he isn’t the most reliable source…however when Jammie Wearing Fool has info and predicts this will be a scoop I listen. From Sharon Churcher’s preemptive defense piece: The woman was purportedly sidelined from her duties after Senator Obama’s wife, Michelle, became convinced that he had developed a personal friendship with her. The allegations were initially circulated in August, just two weeks before the convention at which Obama finally beat his opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, Hillary Clinton. The woman, now 33, vigorously denies the vicious and unsubstantiated gossip. And some Washington insiders suggested that she was the victim of an 11th-hour attempt to smear Obama by die-hard Hillary supporters. But now the rumours have resurfaced. Ace: Having now spoken to someone tracking the story, I can say: 1) It’s not just a silly little rumor. 2) It will break in some form shortly. The question is how prestigious an outlet breaks it. (PS, at best, it won’t be that prestigious, at least at first, but there’s a lot here so when someone finally touches, there is a good chance of an Edwards-like “Oh yeah, we were working on that too” pile-on.) Fire is being held as those who know the story try to get someone of import to break it; if they pass, it will be flooded out through secondary channels. 3) The story has a Fred Baron. Not The Fred Baron. But actually– an even better Fred Baron. The woman is “working” in the Caribbean drawing a salary from…. uhhh… let’s say from someone who is a big, shiny part of the dirty Chicago political machine. And it makes no sense that she’s doing her supposed “job,” for which she seems unqualified anyway, in the Caribbean, of all places. It’s unclear how she could possibly do this job at all, never mind from the Caribbean. And she’s been there for at least a year. (At least.) This isn’t some sabbatical or few months’ of “work” on an island paradise. 4) This woman was a major, big-time fundraiser. She raised x millions of dollars for various Democratic interests (connected to Obama) and then opened her own shop in DC. Since she was (as any fundraiser does) getting a cut of the take, this was a lucrative job. But she, for reasons unfathomable, suddenly shut the shop down and decamped to a little Caribbean island. And somewhere along the line got a “job” from her own Fred Baron. Which conveniently put her far away from Obama, Michelle, and the media. 5) Within hours of the Daily Mail article breaking, she called the Illinois hq of the Obama campaign. They wouldn’t talk to her. Who is Vera Baker? Some people in Chicago claim she was Obama’s Finance Director for his 2004 Senate campaign. FEC Senate campaign records show she was paid a pretty penny as “Finance Director”. However, people familiar with Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign say Claire Serdiuk was Obama’s Finance Director. Looking through everything we can see online for that 2004 campaign, Claire Serdiuk is consistently listed as the Finance Director - because that’s what she was. There’s no mention of Vera Baker…but Vera Baker was paid as the “Finance Director” too. And then, suddenly, Vera Baker was relocated to New York. Right around the time Michelle Obama got incredibly angry about something. We know it was hard to tell, because Michelle’s angry about something on a good day…but this was EXTRA angry. And then, even more suddenly, Vera Baker was relocated to the island of Martinique, where she remains. We hear it’s lovely there. They get lots of sunshine on Sundays. Paradise. A lovely place to read between the lines and ask lots of questions. All reporters should go there and feel inspired. Ace: I agree with Andrew Sullivan: Full disclosure. Let’s see this banished staffer’s work records, pay stubs, and travel schedules. With an eye to seeing how those travel schedules may match up with The One’s. I’m a journalist. It’s my duty to demand these answers. And I’ll never stop. Sweet Potato Pie? Just remember…this is only a rumor until the media get off their behinds and actually investigate this. I heard another rumor that they plan on doing that the day after hell freezes over. We are not claiming this rumor to be true, only offering certain facts that raise serious questions we believe any unbiased media has the obligation to investigate. If only an unbiased media existed. Remember how the media played catch-up with the blogs on the John Edwards affair? It will be fun to see them repeat their mistakes if this pans out. stoptheaclu.com

To: average joe who wrote (32962)	9/23/2009 12:04:39 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Inside the Obama's rocky marriage: How lonely Michelle nearly walked out on ambitious (and hen-pecked) Barack By Paul Thompson Last updated at 12:53 AM on 23rd September 2009 Comments (2) Add to My Stories President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle came close to splitting up as he tried to build his political career, according to a new book. Left alone for long periods as her husband pursued his political ambitions, Michelle considered walking out of the marriage after eight years, it is claimed. But fears that daughter Sasha had the life-threatening illness spinal meningitis brought the couple back together. According to author Christopher Anderson, the illness in 2001 helped forge a new bond between the couple. Anderson's book 'Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage' suggests a troubled union as Mr Obama attempted to make his way in Chicago politics. Michelle, 48, is quoted as telling her husband: 'You only think about yourself. 'I never thought I'd have to raise a family alone.' Anderson said Mr Obama tired of his wife's constant nagging. 'I love Michelle, but she's killing me with this constant criticism,' Barack is quoted as confiding to his grandmother Madelyn Dunham. 'She just seems so bitter, so angry all the time.' Anderson also reveals that the couple went through heartache before Mrs Obama conceived her first child. Anderson, who wrote a biography of Princess Diana called 'The Day Diana Died', said the couple talked to friends about using IVF or even adopting. Speaking on the CBS 'Early Show' today Anderson said Mrs Obama almost walked out on the marriage. He said: 'I think she could have walked at one point. She felt abandoned.' 'The strains in their marriage, they've been very open about,' he said. 'During the period when he was in the senate ... he said it was a dark time in their marriage. It was angry all the time.' Anderson, who interviewed over 200 friends of the couple for the biography, also spoke about Michelle's heartache at not being able to conceive. 'For five years they tried to have children, and they were very concerned about their ability to have them before Malia came along. 'And, in fact, one of their best friends has gone on record as saying when she became pregnant, she was afraid to tell Michelle, because Michelle had been trying so hard and she didn't want to break her heart. 'They discussed adoption with some of their closest friends and then, fortunately for them, Malia came along in 1998.' Anderson also said that Michelle gave the thumbs down to Hillary Clinton as her husband's running mate in the election. And he claimed it was she who persuaded him to adopt the 'Yes, we can' slogan - which he considered corny. Read more: dailymail.co.uk