Sarah Palin is by no means the first person to point the finger at Barack Obama for his association with Bill Ayres, a former member of the Weather Underground, the radical left organisation that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in the US when active in the late 1960s and 1970s.
But she is the most senior Republican to directly chastise Obama's over the link and in such an aggressive manner.
"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," she said.
Weather Underground was one of a number of organisations that sprung up around the world to challenge "the man" in the revolutionary atmosphere that pervaded that era.
They may not have killed anyone but the comments on Bill Ayers' blog demonstrate the hatred of the group that still exists. "If you want the definition of a terrorist see bill ayers and any member of weather underground every member of your organization is a worthless filthy fucking traitor you were then and you are now," writes Chris Clary on Ayers' blog.
The New York Times article cited by Palin in making the attack concluded: "The two men [Obama and Ayers] do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr Ayers."
But Tom Maguire on the JustOneMinute blog writes:
Scott Shane of the NY Times presents an elegant apologia for Obama's mysterious relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
However, with the election a month away and the Republicans sliding in the polls many bloggers believe it is the act of a woman staring defeat in the face. Or as blogger 2ninety puts it on iReport: "When all else is lost, call your opponent a terrorist and hope people fall for it. Oh so desperate and oh so sad...".
