Obama pal slams WND for eligibility reporting

The campaign of former Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie is blasting WND as engaging in conspiracy theories, purportedly for the website's "claim that President Obama was not born in the U.S."

Abercrombie, now running for governor of Hawaii, is a close friend of Obama noted for his role in the eligibility controversy.

Abercrombie's campaign was responding on its website to a factual WND report that Abercrombie was listed as a member of a U.S.-based socialist organization.

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

In a section titled "Rumors and false attacks," Abercrombie's campaign site claimed, "Neil has never been part of any socialist or communist organization."

In a clear reference to WND, the site continued, "These rumors are being spread by Neil's political opponents and conspiracy theorists including those behind the so-called 'birther' movement who continually claim that President Obama was not born in the U.S."

Abercrombie's campaign site did not explain why the politician was listed as a Democratic Socialists member in the organization's official literature, nor did the site respond to his close ties to the organization.

WND, meanwhile, has never reported Obama was born outside the U.S. Instead, WND has reported that Obama has not released documentary evidence conclusively proving his place of birth.

As WND reported earlier this month, the November-December 1990 issue of the Democratic Socialists' official magazine, the Democratic Left, lists Abercrombie as a member of the socialist party.

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."

Trevor Loudon of the New Zeal blog, a researcher of communism, noted in that same 1990 article, then–congressional candidate Bernie Sanders, who has not been a card-carrying Democratic Socialists member, was called an "independent socialist," while Abercrombie is named as a "DSAer Democrat."

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"This indicates the editors of Democratic Left were choosing their words carefully and making a distinction between the two," writes Loudon.

In the 1990s, many high-ranking Democrat public officials were openly members of the Democratic Socialists, including New York mayor David Dinkins, New York City Councilor Ruth Messinger and California Congressman Ron Dellums.

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 Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu. The White House has still not confirmed it wrote or sent the 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, meanwhile, 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 health-care 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.