The Dangerous Group From the Chicago Annenberg Challenge

Say it with a deep menacing voice.  But I have some disturbing news out there for the conservatives concerned about the Ayers-Obama relationship. There was a second Chairman for the Board of Directors named Edward Bottum, a politically active businessman. I think we should all call for his donations to be returned because of his ties to the dangerous radical Bill Ayers:


Bottum, Edward S.
WINNETKA, IL 60093
Chase Franklin and Co./Venture Capi $500 KIRK FOR CONGRESS – REPUBLICAN P 03/02/2001
Bottum, Edward S.
WINNETKA, IL 60093
Chase Franklin and Co./Venture Capi $500 KIRK FOR CONGRESS – REPUBLICAN P 03/02/2001
Bottum, EdwardS. Mr.
WINNETKA, IL 60093
Chase Franklin Group/Ventum Capital $500 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE P 02/15/2002
Bottum, EdwardS. Mr.
WINNETKA, IL 60093
Chase Franklin Group/Ventum Capital $500 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE P 02/28/2001
BOTTUM, EDWARD S
WINNETKA, IL 60093
VANTURE CAP $226 NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS P 10/10/200
BOTTUM, EDWARD S
WINNETKA, IL 60093
CHASE FRANKLIN GROUP $750 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE – RNC P 07/28/2000
BOTTUM, EDWARD S
WINNETKA, IL 60093
CHASE FRANKLIN AND CO $500 KIRK FOR CONGRESS INC – REPUBLICAN G 07/27/2000


The RNC and Mark Kirk had better demonstrate their loyalty to America.

I’m sure Frank Burns will be OUTRAGED!

OMG! Another Kirk donor was on the board:

Weber, Arnold None/Retired NORTHBROOK IL 60062 250 2/4/2008 KIRK FOR CONGRESS – REPUBLICAN
WEBER, ARNOLD R. MR. RETIRED NORTHBROOK IL 60062 1,000 5/28/2008 JOHN MCCAIN 2008 INC. – REPUBLICAN


WEBER, ARNOLD RETIRED NORTHBROOK IL 60062 250 10/21/2003 MCKENNA FOR SENATE – REPUBLICAN
WEBER, ARNOLD RETIRED NORTHBROOK IL 60062 1,000 7/16/2003 MCKENNA FOR SENATE – REPUBLICAN
Weber, Arnold R Mr. NORTHBROOK IL 60062 500 8/23/2004 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE – REPUBLICAN

And the RNC is in league with him too!


Our politics is really stupid.

The founding Board of Directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge as announced in 1995 were:

  • Patricia Albjerg Graham
  • Barack Obama, civil rights attorney at Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland; lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School; member of the board of directors of the Joyce Foundation and the Woods Fund of Chicago; winner, Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 award, 1993; former president of the Harvard Law Review (1990–1991); former executive director of the Developing Communities Project (June 1985–May 1988)[25][37][38][39]
  • Stanley O. Ikenberry, president of the University of Illinois (1979–1995); member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago (1983–1995); former professor of education (1965–1971) and senior vice president (1971–1979) of Pennsylvania State University
  • Arnold R. Weber, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago (1995–1999); member of the board of directors of the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial and the Tribune Company; former president of Northwestern University (1985–1994) and the University of Colorado (1980–1985); professor of labor economics and friend and colleague of George P. Schultz at MIT, the University of Chicago, and in the Nixon administration[40]
  • Ray Romero, vice president and general counsel of Ameritech; Chicago School Finance Authority board member (appointed in 1992 by Governor Jim Edgar); candidate in the 1996 Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District of Illinois; winner, Crain’s Chicago Business 40 Under 40 award, 1991; former Illinois Commerce Commission commissioner (appointed in 1985 by Governor Jim Thompson); former civil rights attorney as Midwest regional director of MALDEF where he was lead counsel for Hispanic plaintiffs in the 1985 Chicago ward remap[39][41]
  • Wanda White, executive director of the Community Workshop on Economic Development; former policy director of the Women’s Self-Employment Project; former deputy commissioner of economic development under Chicago Mayors Washington, Sawyer and Daley
  • Susan Crown, president of the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial; vice president of Henry Crown & Company; daughter of Lester Crown[42]
  • Handy Lindsey, Jr., executive director (1988–1997) then president (1997–2003) of the Field Foundation of Illinois; former associate director of the Chicago Community Trust (1986–1988)
  • The final Board of Directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in were:

    Patricia Albjerg Graham
    Barack Obama
    Edward Bottum, managing director of Chase Franklin Corp.; former president and vice chairman of Continental Illinois Bank[44]
    Connie Evans, founder and president of the Women’s Self-Employment Project
    Susan Blankenbaker Noyes, former labor attorney at Sidley & Austin; daughter of Republican former Indiana state senator Virginia Murphy Blankenbaker; goddaughter of Patricia Albjerg Graham[45]
    Scott C. Smith, president, CEO and publisher of the Chicago Tribune; former president, CEO and publisher of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale; former chairman of the South Florida Annenberg Challenge
    Nancy Searle, consultant to the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust
    Victoria Chou, dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago
    John W. McCarter, Jr., president and CEO of the Field Museum
    Jim Reynolds, Jr., co-founder, chairman and CEO of Loop Capital Services

    0 thoughts on “The Dangerous Group From the Chicago Annenberg Challenge”
    1. I so love how well you do the research. I assume you have forwarded this information to all the traditional medial outlets and other bloggers.

      Thanks as always, Arch 🙂

    2. Larry,

      Your headline is a little misleading. No one said the group of people associated with the CAC are dangerous. The charge is programs that Bill Ayers decided to fund were dangerous given their political bent.

      I personally have put together committees where all you are trying to do is get someone to lend their name to the letterhead. All those you cite above had scant knowledge of what Ayres was using the money for. Their positions were unpaid and “letterhead place holders”. They wanted their name associated with something big and a 50 million educational reform grant is pretty big and from the list above it looks like it did it’s job attracting people who wanted to see their name on the letterhead.

      On the other hand, Obama was a paid employee and had direct knowledge of the operations and what “educational programs” were being funded. This also came up as an issue because Obama (to put it nicely) skewed the details of their relationship. One has to ask why? What did Obama fear in admitting on National TV during a debate in the primary that he worked for this guy instead of saying he was just a guy from my neighboorhood?

    3. Mark–check you facts. Obama was not paid. He was the Chair of the Board of Directors, not the Executive Director. Bottum is a direct comparison because he took over when Obama stepped down. Where do you get this that Obama was a paid employee?

      Show me the cite.

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