In a town this size

David Axelrod's Chicago neighbor Sharon Bialek

As we look into the background of Herman Cain's photogenic accuser Sharon Bialek, we learn that she once lived in the same apartment building as Obama consigliere David Axelrod.   There are an estimated 575,998 rental apartments in Chicago, but we're assured that the Bialek-Axelrod proximity is just a coincidence.

She was asked: 'One of the things is that you lived at a 505 North Lake Shore Drive apartment, right? This is the same building, it happens to be the same building David Axelrod lives in. Do you know David Axelrod? Ever have any interaction with him at all?'

The 50-year-old replied: 'I saw him in the gym. I mean -- everybody nods to each other. It is friendly building but I never had any interaction with him.'

Bialek's passing acquaintance with Axelrod reminds us of that of another pair of small town Chicago neighbors, Obama and unrepentant terrorist William Ayers.

This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who’s a professor of English in Chicago, who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He’s not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.

Barry Obama's Chicago neighbor William Ayers

Here in the Finger Lakes, it sometimes seems that everyone does know everyone else, but we don't remember Chicago being so close-knit that "everywhere you go, you meet someone you know:"