Friends, lovers and allies. The “lover” part is inferred from the Frank Davis background, and also from the commune-sex the Weathermen indulged. Just a guess, no other evidence. In fact, I also have a bit of a hunch that Obama is powering himself within that group of fellow travelers by being chaste — unobtainium — within that otherwise libertine karmic circle of radicals.
it would have caused a real stoir if the McCain ad had started, “They were lovers.”