American Issues Project hitting Obama in OH and MI for Ayers connection

The American Issues Project, a 501 (c)4 organization representing a coalition of conservative activists, is up in Ohio and Michigan Thursday with a substantial $2.8 million advertisement buy that hits presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on his connection to 1960s and 70s-era radical William Ayers.

The ad buy is the largest third-party expenditure to date in this election cycle.

Ayers, who was a member of the Weather Underground in the 1960s and 70s, served with Obama as members of the board of an anti-poverty group, the Woods Fund of Chicago, between 1999 and 2002.

Ayers is now a professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Obama previously responded to a question about his connection to Ayers during a primary debate in Pennsylvania.