Palin Was a Member of the Constitution Party in the 90s --UPDATED
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 01:09:38 AM EST
ABC News broke the story of Palin's 1990's membership in the Alaska Independence Party, which believes that Alaska should consider seceding from the Union. Palin sent a video greeting to their state convention this year.

This has been much discusssed at Daily Kos.

Update [2008-9-2 16:20:28 by Frederick Clarkson]: TPM Muckraker reports that the McCain camp disputes that Palin was ever a member of AIP -- but voter registration records prove that her husband Todd was a member til at least 2002.

But what has not been reported as far as I can tell, is that the AIP is the Alaska affiliate of the Constitution Party, founded by Howard Phillips, and has been the political home to leading theocratic Christian Reconstructionism such as John Lofton, Otto Scott, Joe Morecraft and movement founder R.J. Rushdoony himself. It has also been the party of some of the most militant anti-abortion activists in the U.S. such as Matthew Trewhella of Missionaries to the Preborn and for many years Randall Terry -- until he decided to run (unsuccessfully) in a primary challenge to an incumbent Republican State Senator Jim King (who had stood up to the Religious Right  during the Terri Schiavo episode.)  More recently perennial GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes unsuccessfully sought the Constitution Party nomination.  Currently the third largest political party in the U.S. in terms of membership, it is usually on the ballot in about 35 states.

ABC reported:  
Earlier this year, Palin sent a video message to the AIP for its annual convention, where AIP vice chair George Clark told the small crowd that Palin "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, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won't go into that.  She also had about an 80 percent approval rating, and is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership."

Given the theocratic orientation of the Constitution Party, it should come as no surprise that Palin would have found a home there and that here views would continue to reflect those of many if not most CP members as well as its platform.

She is a creationist; is as the CP folks say, 100% prolife, meaning no rape or health of the mother exceptions for abortion and no stem cell research; anti -LGBT rights (and not just marriage equality). These are not single issues but outgrowths of her world view.

Palin's recent history with the Constitution Party and more importantly, the far, theocratic right orientation of her politics are likely to become one of the major issues of the 2008 presidential campaign.

(And just in case anyone thinks that the Constitution Party is not a factor, consider that party leader Howard Phillips is one of the featured speakers at Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 2nd, along with Jesse Ventura, Grover Norquist and Barry Goldwater Jr.)




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