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Another AIP Official Says Palin Was at 1994 Convention*

September 02, 2008 12:21 PM

An intense "she said"/"she said" emerged Tuesday over whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, the third-largest political party in the 49th state. The AIP wants Alaskans to get an opportunity to vote on whether or not they will remain a state, or become a commonwealth, or split off as an independent nation.

Officials of the AIP said Gov. Palin was once a member, but the McCain campaign -- providing what it says is complete voter registration documentation -- says Palin has been according to official records a lifelong Republican.

A day after making its assertions, on Tuesday evening, AIP chair Lynette Clark acknowledged she was mistaken and that Gov. Palin was never a member.

(Which to be honest seems more in keeping with the ambitious pol. Republicans have a much better track record than the AIP.)

Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, tells ABC News that "Gov. Sarah Palin first registered to vote in the state in May 1982 as a Republican, and she has not changed her party affiliate with the Division of Elections since that time."

But Fenumiai adds that Palin's husband Todd was a member of the AIP from October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000. He is currently undeclared.

As part of their pushback against the charges of Lynette and Dexter Clark of the AIP, the McCain campaign says that Palin did not even attend the AIP convention in Wasilla in 1994.

But another former AIP official -- Mark Chryson, chairman of the AIP from 1995 to 2002 -- tells ABC News that "Palin was at the convention in 1994. She was there."

Was she a member?

Chryson can’t say. "She may have been, I do not know," he says. Their records don't go back that far.

"Ask Sarah," he suggests.

I'd love to. But she hasn't exactly been making herself available to the press.

-- jpt

* This post has been updated with the comments of Fenumiai, and again after Clark took back her assertion that Gov. Palin was a member of the AIP.

September 2, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (185)

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The true information is certainly relevant and I think the American public should know the truth about this matter. I've heard nothing but lies from Sarah Palin and at the same time she professes to be a Christian and her husband Todd is really a dangerous individual and could very easily be a terrist. I'm surprised the RNC was willing to purchase the clothes he wore to the Republican National Convention.

Posted by: Rocky | Oct 25, 2008 9:02:37 PM

I dont know why MAINSTREAM media spends so much time diging for dirt on Palin. Its like Joe Biden and Obama get a pass on everything they have ever said or did in their past. I would like to see some honest investigation on all the canidates equally. I am sure if CNN,ABC and CBS did that, the polls would not be where they are today. Obama is the most secretaive canidate I have ever seen. Demand to see his College records. I bet most people will not like what they see. how about some of the the things he has stated in his book, But dont worry the mainstream media has given the Democrats a pass, its not that important its only a presidential campaign. They have all jumped on the OBAMA train and dont care what he may do to our country. You will all feel very stupid in a few years when his time is over. I dont think Obama will be office more than one term, once eveyone see's his true colors.

Posted by: james | Oct 22, 2008 7:16:29 AM

Cheers to the AIP , anyone want to start TIP for Texans Independent Party? This government has made every lower and middle worker a slave, working our off for minimum wage just to pay income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, service taxes, usage taxes, license fees, renewal fees, inspection fees, registration fees, fines, fees, penelties, surcharges, auto insurance, helth insurance, interest, and more taxes. We aren't even left with enough to feed our families or pay for our homes. Then they have taken our rights away, they have taken our privacy.....

Posted by: di | Oct 16, 2008 12:11:03 AM

A turd wrapped in fine newspaper and sprayed with perfume and lipstick is still gonna stink.

Posted by: sg | Oct 14, 2008 9:55:20 PM

My problem with Palin and McCain is that they are not the Christians that they profess to be. They lie, bear false witness and endanger human life by inciting their angry crowds into potentially violent mobs. McCain and Palin have done nothing to rebuke this preacher who describes all Moslims, buddhists and Sikhs of the world as "praying for the enemy" (referring to Barrack Obama. There are 7 million American Moslims. My husband is Buddhist - are we the enemy now? Wil we be persecuted if McCain and Palin win? If Republican Christians say they are afraid - try being us!!
Those Republican mobs are terrible people and the reason they are so poor? is because they are so thick.

Posted by: karen | Oct 14, 2008 5:16:38 PM

The founder of the AIP, Joe Vogler, had this to say about America. This was before he was murdered during a sale of plastuc explisives gone bad.

"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

And she has the audacity to take Obama to task over his tangential link to Ayers??

Posted by: Justin | Oct 13, 2008 2:49:03 AM

hahahahaha, i cant believe how some of you commentators can justify Palin's treason by saying it that it occurred so long ago. It's like telling our government to let pedophiles, rapists, and terrorists out of jail for crimes they committed a decade ago; because it was....well.... "so long ago"

Posted by: vic | Oct 12, 2008 4:08:09 PM

I am tired of hearing Conservatives whine about the "mainstream" ..er, elite liberal media. Palin has already given her ultimatum about how she "chooses" to speak, defining her terms, and whether or not she will answer, etc. Where's the outrage?

Re: Ayers. The Annenberg project was founded by Walter Annenberg, a lifelong Republican appointed by Nixon and Reagan.
The Annenberg board also included several civic, business and education leaders, many of them Republicans.
Former Illinois state Republican Rep. Diana Nelson calls the Ayers smear silly and ridiculous.

Posted by: Kathy | Oct 10, 2008 9:45:43 PM

But Obama DID pal around with terrorists. Ayers bragged in his memoir that he bombed the Pentagon and other buildings. There's clear and documented evidence Obama had an ongoing relationship with Ayers.==============================The AIP accusations are nothing more than muddying the waters.========================
Question: What does Barack Obama and Osama Bin Ladin have in common?===============Answer: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.==============Any attacks about Palin/AIP pales in comparison.

Posted by: Darryl | Oct 10, 2008 11:48:39 AM

We cannot expect Palin to have the drive or courage to work with the bureaucracy of the US government when she is such an outsider and has so little respect for the laws and institutions of this country that she would support Alaska's secession. The leader of the Alaska Independence Party openly spouted hate for America. That is far more un-American than Obama's loose, minor acquaintance with Ayers.

Posted by: franny | Oct 9, 2008 5:34:48 PM

How can the records showing members of the AIP not go back as far as 1995, but detailed records go back to the 1994 AIP convention showing who attended?

McCain/Palin need to drop associating Obama with Ayers and Rev. Wright when Palin is married to a man who is/was member of an organization that doesn't want Alaska to be a state in the United States of America. The AIP founder is quoted saying he doesn't need American or its damned institutions. Sounds like Sarah Palin's husband isn't proud to be an American.

Posted by: kckid | Oct 6, 2008 5:41:29 PM

McCain had a choice of many really intelligent republican women in the congress; why did he pick this unknown, finger wagging, winking, spiteful woman? Oh, yeah! I know. She lies so prettily with a smile and a wink and the republicans are so desperate they will do anything to win the White House again. God help the USofA. Our great country cannot survive four more years of Bush voodoo economics.

Posted by: Phyllis Lilly | Oct 6, 2008 1:16:25 PM

"He who is without sin, cast the first stone".
Sounds like McCain and Sarah haven't read their bibles.
"What goes around, comes around, and it comes back 10 fold". Perhaps they haven't heard of this one either.
I'd say these two better run for cover!

Posted by: Dee | Oct 5, 2008 9:46:50 PM

Palin has NOW opened a can of worms by recently saying Obama is "palling around with terrorists."

EVERYONE is now aloud to question The Palin's association with AIP; troopergate scandal, witchcraft practices; improper use of funds to pay for family trips...Palin started it....

Posted by: Cathy | Oct 5, 2008 6:45:40 PM

I don't know when you guys at ABC and other news agencies are going to finally get it. This report is again based on hearsay just like the trooper story which everyone found out the truth that Palin wanted him fired for tasering his 10 year old step son just to show others how it worked.

Come on we all know most of the media is liberal and is doing everything they can to tamper with information to get the voter to vote Obama. It used to be that reports like this one were based on FACTS not hearsay. I hope you'll be eating these words again.

If I ever see a politician run on a platform that includes severe penalties for poor reporting like this I'll vote for him in a second! You guys have been no better than the rags that report on celebrities like the Enquirer! Certainly you aren't professionals.

Posted by: chris | Sep 9, 2008 10:22:42 PM

To: Master Shake sorry meant for Azaelya
"This isn't a battle of race or sex as much as it is the wealthy vs the majority"

Where is the proof that the Republican Party is the party of the wealthy? The Democratic Party has as many if not more wealthy people than the Republican Party. George Sores, the vast majority of Hollywood, the Mainstream Media and I can go on and on with examples of people with money who are Democrats.

Posted by: Clyde | Sep 9, 2008 11:52:45 AM

To: Master Shake

Where is the proof that the Republican Party is the party of the wealthy? The Democratic Party has as many if not wealthy people as the Republican Party. George Sores, the vast majority of Hollywood, the Mainstream Media and I can go on and on with examples of people with money who are Democrats.

Posted by: Clyde | Sep 9, 2008 11:46:19 AM

Well, all the Nuts are losing it over Gov. Palin. Why the irrational anger? USA TODAY/Gallup poll shows McCain-Palin up by 10 with likely voters. The Messiah has a Freudian slip and mentions his "Muslim faith" in an interview with Steffi. LOL!

Posted by: Master Shake | Sep 8, 2008 7:22:00 AM

i think with the ludicrousness of this election comes some wisdom. This isn't a battle of race or sex as much as it is the wealthy vs the majority. Can they really buy their way to the white house again? Or have the masses grown too intelligent for this kind of control??

Posted by: Azaelya | Sep 7, 2008 12:34:42 AM

After Alaska's secession, Sarah can become Empress of Alaska, and Todd can be her Prince-Consort.

Go for it, Sarah!

Posted by: Lenore | Sep 6, 2008 3:23:24 PM

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