Sarah Palin And The Alaskan Independence Party
Update 2:35PM: The state of Alaska now confirms that Todd Palin was in fact a member of the AIP until 2002, when Palin first ran for statewide office. Update 2, 2:40PM: CNN reports that Sarah Palin also addressed the AIP by video in 2006 as well as 2008.
Original post: So the McCain campaign is now denying assertions that Sarah Palin was ever involved with the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party.
Superficially, they seem to have a good case. As Jake Tapper writes, according to voter registration records, Palin first registered to vote in 1982. She registered as a Republican and hasn't changed her registration since. Case closed, right?
Not exactly.
Her partisan registration notwithstanding, nobody can dispute that she recorded a video welcome for the 2008 AIP convention in which she highlighted her view that Alaska could be "self-sufficient." Nor can they dispute that in October, 2007 -- long before she was considered a VP prospect -- AIP vice chairman Dexter Clark spoke of her past involvement.
Clark, the AIP vice chairman, addressed Palin's involvement with the party in October, 2007, speaking before The Second North American Secessionist Convention. Keep in mind that this was before McCain had won the nomination, let alone selected Palin as his VP.
Clark talked about Palin at The First North American Secessionist Convention, held in 2006 before Palin was elected governor.
Our current governor, we mentioned at the last conference, the one we were hoping would get elected, Sarah Palin, did get elected. ... She was an AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town - that was a non-partisan job. But you get along to go along - she eventually joined the Republican Party.
Given the timing of Clark's comments -- before any VP speculation and before she even become governor -- he doesn't seem to have a political motivation to lie.
And now the AIP is sticking to its assertions that Palin attended their convention in 1994 and has been supportive of their party.
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign does have an obvious political motivation to lie, and in fact has a track record of lying about Palin's record. And when you factor in Palin's 2008 video greeting to the AIP's convention, which included obvious secessionist codewords like "self-sufficient," the McCain campaign's denials seem even less credible.
The exact nature of Sarah Palin's relationship and involvement with the AIP certainly does require more research and vetting. But isn't that why you shouldn't pick a completely unknown as a vice presidential candidate only 67 days before the election?
