A few days ago, The National Enquirer printed a rumor that President Obama had an affair back in 2004 with a staffer on his Senate campaign. At first the Enquirer claimed to have hotel surveillance video that proved that a woman named Vera Baker visited Obama at his hotel. Then they retracted that part and have only the testimony of a limo driver who allegedly drove Baker to the hotel where Obama was staying, as if that claim is even strong enough to suggest an affair. To add more suspicion to this story, there’s a $1 million offer on the table by an anonymous benefactor to anyone who can prove that Obama had an affair. I’m so sure there’s no political agenda there. It’s also kind of a shame that the Enquirer is squandering the good will they earned from uncovering the Edwards affair with poorly sourced stories like this one.

The Obamas are reportedly ok with these rumors, as annoying as they are, because they know that they’re inevitable when you’re a high profile political figure. Compare their alleged response to Hilary Clinton talking about the “vast right wing conspiracy” against her husband. There may have been a conspiracy, but that doesn’t mean her husband wasn’t cheating.

White House insiders tell me Barack and Michelle Obama are less upset by the National Enquirer rehash of an old story about an alleged infidelity by the president than are some of their aides.

”The president and first lady know it’s all bulls—. They know they have a good marriage and fully understand that unfortunately these false stories go with the territory when you live in the White House.”

The Enquirer revisited the long-denied tale about a rumored romance in 2004 between Obama and campaign worker Vera Baker during the president’s run for the U.S. Senate.

[From The Chicago Sun Times]

Given all we’ve heard about cheating men lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama had an affair or multiple affairs. That’s purely based on the bad behavior of other men (and Presidents), though, and not Obama specifically. As it is this is not enough evidence to suggest that this woman even visited the President in his room – even for work purposes. You think that if there’s some dirt on Obama someone would have dug it up by now to use against him.

It looks like Barack and Michelle have a very loving, committed relationship and I don’t think that the President would jeopardize that. You never know, however, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from near constant gossiping it’s that appearances can be deceiving. So can rumors, though, especially when you consider the motivations of the people who start them.