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Root's main point is that "no one from the class of '83 knew Obama at Columbia ... nobody knows him."

BFD. Best Bet? Obama was not a "Transfer Student" to Columbia College. He was a walk-in General Studies student, who was slipped into the "graduation track," which in and of itself is or was not so unusual.

The deal is (or was) that if you completed enough at General Studies, had acceptable credits from another school, or for "life experience," one could get a Columbia degree for General Studies work. That degree; that diploma, oddly enough, was issued by Columbia College.

I am reasonably sure that Bill Ayers received Obama in NYC. Obama's gay-activist-Marxist Mentor at Occidental, Laurence Goldyn, was a close friend of Ayers. Ayers could have easily shepherded Obama through Columbia, using his strong family ties on the faculty.
That's news. I.E., Bill Ayers is not "a guy from the neighborhood." He and Obama were connected in NYC.

Furthermore, what is also really unusual is that Obama actually spent very little time at Columbia ... so little time that it IS scarcely credible that he completed enough course work to qualify for a degree. "How much time" "What was he doing and where?" Those are the real questions.

Root should know all about General Studies students and the GS programs. He should also tell us that fellows from the élite Ivy League Columbia College did not pal around with General Studies students, who with good reason or not, were usually viewed as oddballs. General Studies people were not Ivy Leaguers trying out for football, or crew. More importantly, they were certainly not required to take the then famous Core Curriculum (which is why Columbia College very rarely accepted transfers).

>"Nobody knew Obama at Columbia?"
(a) Not quite true as several have surfaced who did, and
(b) no big deal if the overwhelming majority of the Columbia College Class of 83 did not know him. Why would they? He wasn't one of them.

Root was a Poli Sci major, Obama claims the same. However we have no idea what Obama took and neither does Root. That's a real issue. It is quite possible that they never took the same Poli Sci courses ... or that Obama never took any Poli Sci courses at all.

That's why the records are important.... not that "nobody knew him."

On the "Who Paid?" question: it now turns out that Grandma Payne Dunham more than likely footed the bills during this period from the proceeds of a rather impressive oil-and-gas-lease trust fund of which she was the executrix.

Root first unveiled his story in 2008. He should have used the research available on this site and elsewhere to at least update the info before resurfacing.

Now if the Romney Campaign, is using surrogates to bring up the facts about Obama's strange college career, that's great. But inaccuracies in Root's revived story will quickly sidetrack the campaign into arguing about trivia.

Did Obama apply as a foreign student? If Grandma was paying, why would he? There are no student loans or scholarships on the record, despite what Obama himself would like you to believe. Of course, it would be nice for Occidental and Columbia to fork over their admission records ... but who is supposed to make them do that?

Root offers:
(a) nothing new.
(b) adds to the confusion with ... to say the very least ... misplaced emphasis
(c) Offers nothing actionable anywhere.