What If It Were Eric Rudolph, Not Bill Ayers?

Most of the MSM is trying to downplay Barack's ties to Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers. Witness the sub-head to this piece in the LA Times, which helpfully informs readers that "Evidence linking him to the ex-leaders of the Weather Underground is thin."

But is it? One finds -- in the middle of the piece -- that:

Obama and Ayers moved in some of the same political and social circles in the leafy liberal enclave of Hyde Park, where they lived several blocks apart. In the mid-1990s, when Obama was running for the Illinois Senate, Ayers introduced Obama during a political event at his home, according to Obama's aides. Ayers, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, later contributed $200 to Obama's state campaign.

What, exactly, does it mean that they "moved in some of the same political and social circles"? How many unrepentant former terrorists move in your social circles -- or the average, mainstream American's?

For those on the left who would like to characterize these ties as no big deal, a thought experiment might be in order. What if Eric Rudolph, the unrepentant bomber of abortion clinics, someday ended up "moving in some of the same political and social circles" as a Republican presidential candidate, donated to him, and introduced him at a political event at Rudolph's home? Would it matter -- or would it be just an unimportant as they're trying to convince us the Ayers-Obama association is?