Sarah Palin has come under increasing scrutiny today over her ties - past and present - to the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), a political organization that supports the secession of Alaska from the United States. I feel this is a big issue and I have commented a number of times on it yesterday and today. The McSame campaign has pushed back by claiming Sarah was never a member of the AIP as she's always been a registered Republican. I have made several comments about the difference between party registration and party membership and how they are in general independent of each other. In the case of The AIP, it's a bit more complicated.
Commonly, there is no automatic link between party registration and party membership. For example, I am registered as a Democrat here in Arizona. But if I go the the Libertarian Party website, I can pay for various types of membership and be a member of the Libertarian Party without any effect on my Arizona voter registration. I can also get involved at the local level and "join" without necessarily changing my voter registration although I suppose that would be expected.
In the case of the AIP, you can join it at this link where you are asked to do the following:
Fill out the form (below) and make sure you check off Alaskan Independence Party under party affiliation. Print out a copy for your records and then email us so we can get you on our roles [sic] too.
The form they're talking about is an official voter registration form for Alaska. So theoretically, the AIP doesn't appear to have membership independent from voter registration. Note, however, that they also want you to send a copy of your voter registration form to them so that you may be added to their membership rolls. So just registering doesn't necessarily alert the party that you are a "member."
So how do we reconcile the McSame claim that Sarah palin has always been a registered Republican with AIP officials claiming she was a party member? Well, there are several possibilities:
First, McSame could be lying but that's doubtful considering the registration paper trail that must exist and be accessible to enterprising reporters.
Second, the AIP officials could be lying although that too is unlikely for the embarrassment that would cause were they to be found out.
Third, Sarah Palin could have filled out the voter registration form, submitted a copy to the AIP but never filed it with the state. but that sounds too devious even for a Republican ;-)
Fourth, Sarah Palin could have financially supported the AIP and they could just have added her to their membership rolls.
Fifth, since we're talking over a decade ago, the whole procedure for joining AIP and/or registering to vote in Alaska could have been (and likely was) quite different from today's internet procedure.
So, what's the truth? With the revelation that Sarah's husband was registered with AIP affiliation, it's very likely that Sarah too has had some kind of AIP involvement at least in the past. Unless McSame is lying through his teeth, Sarah's voter registration form likely never had the AIP box checked off. But it's also likely that she has at some time supported the AIP in some way to lead AIP officials to consider her a member.
I think the truth will eventually come out because this issue i.e. whether or not a potential Veep has secessionist sympathies will resonate with both the media and the electorate. People understand that you can't be both a supporter of secession and honestly carry out your duties as Vice President of the United States.