Hawaii guv candidate member of socialist group?

Former Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a close friend of President Obama noted for his role in the eligibility controversy and now running for governor of Hawaii, was listed as a member of a U.S.-based socialist organization.

Obama himself also has been closely tied to the organization, the Marxist-oriented Democratic Socialists of America.

Trevor Loudon of the New Zeal blog, a researcher of communism, uncovered the November-December 1990 issue of the organization's official magazine, the Democratic Left, which lists Abercrombie as a member of the socialist party.

TRENDING: Transgender artist wins prestigious award for work that resembles pile of garbage

The hot new best-seller, "The Manchurian President," by Aaron Klein, reveals inside story on Team Obama and its members. Now available autographed at WND's Superstore!

The magazine states the group's political-action committee endorsed two congressional candidates, "DSAer Democrat Neil Abercrombie seeking to regain the House seat representing Honolulu and Vermont independent candidate Bernie Sanders."

Abercrombie in February resigned as Hawaii's congressman to run as governor in the state's upcoming election.

As WND previously reported, Abercrombie is known for his role in the dispute over Obama's constitutional eligibility for the presidency. In 2009, the then-congressman read and posted a letter ostensibly from Obama in which the president purportedly declares his birth to have been at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu. The White House has still not confirmed it wrote or sent that letter.

Former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, posted this message on his website explaining President Obama settled the question of his actual birthplace "once and for all" merely by declaring it in a letter he read to the Kapi'olani Medical Center's Centennial Dinner in Honolulu Jan. 24, 2009.

Abercrombie's campaign did not immediately return a WND request for comment on whether he was ever a Democratic Socialists of America member.

He has been closely linked with the socialist organization for years.

According to the organization magazine's Winter 2007 edition, Abercrombie spoke at the socialist group's political-action-committee event in Washington, D.C., at the home of philanthropist Stewart Mott.

A former aide to Abercrombie, George (Skip) Roberts, has long served as a Democratic Socialists of America representative to the Socialist International, the socialist group for which White House energy-environment czar Carol Browner was recently discovered to be a commissioner until 2008.

Abercrombie's wife, academic Nancie Caraway, was listed in 1985 as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America's Feminist Commission.

Abercrombie is noted as a friend of Obama and the president's late parents. He previously told the Chicago Tribune he was part of a group of graduate students at the University of Hawaii along with Barack Obama Sr. and Dunham who spent weekends listening to jazz, drinking beer and debating politics and world affairs.

Obama connected to socialist group

Top Democratic Socialists of America members have been closely linked for years to Obama.

Obama himself spoke at a forum organized by the group at the University of Chicago in early 1996 called "Employment and Survival in Urban America."

Quentin Young, considered the father of the U.S. single-payer movement, is a longtime Democratic Socialists of America activist. Young has had a relationship with Obama, particularly in the 1990s, when he reportedly advised Obama on health care.

Young was reportedly present at a 1995 meeting at the home of former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers, who was said to have launched Obama's political career.

Young has been active in Chicago socialist circles and was previously accused of membership in a communist group. In 1992, Chicago's branch of the Democratic Socialists of America awarded Young, a member, with their highest honor – the Debs Award.

In a 2008 article in the official Communist Party USA magazine, Young noted Obama previously expressed support for a single-payer universal health-care program, although he later waffled when asked about his position.

As an Illinois state senator representing a mostly black district on the south side of Chicago, Obama publicly supported universal health care. He also co-sponsored the Bernardin Amendment, which did not pass but would have amended the Illinois State Constitution to add health care to the list of basic rights for residents.

Meanwhile, Obama spoke at the March 29, 1998, memorial service for Chicago Democratic Socialists of America member Saul Mendelson.

Timuel Black, a member activist, mediated political disputes on behalf of Obama in the 1990s and was reportedly involved in Obama's campaign committee during his successful 2004 Senate race.

Longtime member activist Arnold Wolf was a member of "Rabbis for Obama" and has held fundraisers in his home for Obama, including a function in 1995 that was aimed at introducing Obama to the Hyde Park activist community.

Eliseo Medina, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, has been honored by Democratic Socialists of America. During the most recent presidential campaign, Medina served on Obama's National Latino Advisory Council.

WND reported Medina, speaking at a 2009 Washington, D.C., conference, declared granting citizenship to millions of illegal aliens would expand the progressive electorate and help ensure a progressive governing coalition for the long term.

Note: Media wishing to interview Aaron Klein or Brenda J. Elliott, please e-mail.