A recent article in Vanity Fair magazine about Sarah Palin reveals that on October 15, 2008, Sarah Palin e-mailed the McCain-Palin ticket’s campaign manager about Todd Palin’s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party. See this article.
Governor Palin said, “He (Todd) was only a member because independent Alaskans too often check that ‘Alaska Independent’ box on voter registration thinking it just means non-partisan. He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box.”
Todd Palin was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party between 1995 and 2002. Alaska used a blanket primary in 1996, 1998, and 2000, so it is plausible that Todd Palin didn’t notice that he was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party, since every primary voter received the same primary ballot in any event. In 2002, each party had its own primary ballot. The voter registration form in use during 1995 listed these choices, with the parties in alphabetical order:
Affiliation: (with a checkbox next to each line)
Alaska Democratic Party
Alaskan Independence Party
Green Party of Alaska
Republican Party of Alaska
non-partisan (no party affiliation)
undeclared (no party declared)
Yeah….that is why Sarah spoke on behalf of their convention and praised all of their “good work”. Give me a break. How this was not a bigger deal during the campaign is beyond me.
That Vanity Fair article was written by Todd Purdum, husband of Dee Dee Myers, Bill Clinton’s press secretary. Purdum has quotes from various “unnamed sources” in the McCain campaign.
The AIP elected Walter Hickel governor in 1990. He was a former Republican governor and was Nixon’s interior secretary until he was fired for encouraging young people to speak out on the Vietnam War.
Walter Hickel was elected governor twice – once in 1966 as a Republican and then later in 1990 after the AIP nominated (not elected) him.
Perhaps his membership in the AIP was also accidental. After all, he never endorsed that party’s call for secession (i.e., “We don’t want to be part of the United States anymore” kind of “patriots”), and he did re-enroll as a Republican in 1994. Maybe old Wally, like Toddy, just got caught up in the confusing jargon of Alaskan politics, or perhaps he was just dizzy from watching Gorbachev’s head popping up all the time. Or maybe Dee Dee Myers made him accept the AIP nomination. See? It all goes back to Clinton eventually…
I absolutely believe that someone in the Palin family was too dumb to tell the difference between non-partisan and the party that elected the then sitting governor.
* Todd Palin registers as a member of the Alaskan party advocating secession from the U.S.
* Governor Sarah Palin joins McCain team, campaigning on
the theme of “Country First.”
* As Russia’s next-door neighbor, Gov. Palin makes the (dubious) claim that she knows that country well.
* McCain and Palin win.
* Alaska secedes.
* VP Palin makes the (highly-credible) claim that she knows the new nation well.
Yikes.
Secession is not a bad thing necessarily. When I lived in Texas many cars sported “Secede” bumperstickers, with the word printed over a Texas Flag design,
If Texas had seceded anytime between when I left and 1999, we would not have suffered George W. Bush as President.
While I don’t advocate secession (yet), states have as much right to secede as they had to join the Union in the first place. Certain people like to quote John C. Calhoun on secession, while conveniently overlooking Thomas Jefferson’s pronouncements on that topic.
There was a secession movement in New England in the early 1800s, and there’s such a movement in the People’s Republic of Vermont today.
We don’t force people to stay married if they don’t want to, so why should we force a state to remain in the Union?
#6: That’s a pleasant thought about Dubya, but if Texas had seceded, he could have simply moved to another state.
7 –
Quite right. Fine, patriotic sentiments on the eve of the country’s birthday.
But I’m curious – how would Bush have smuggled Texas’s 34 electoral college votes out of state? In the trunk of his car?