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| news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080902/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_politics_4 AP McCain camp: Questions on Palin's party a 'smear' By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 2, 3:39 PM ET ST. Yet, some of Palin's previous political activities are a matter of dispute. qrD9j8els-/J=1220422550094311/A=540680 9/R=0/* At issue are claims by members of the Alaskan Independence Party that Palin was once associated with it. The party, some of whose members have advocated secession from the United States, wants to place all federal lands in Alaska under state control. The McCain campaign released voter registration documents Tuesday dating to 1990 in which Palin lists herself as a Republican. Campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982, and has never been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party. Palin addressed the Independence Party's state convention by video earlier this year, welcoming the party to Fairbanks. She gave no indication of a current or past connection to the party. "Your party plays an important role in our state's politics," she said in the video, which is posted on the party's Web site. "I've always said that competition is so good, and that applies to political parties as well." Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, told ABC News that Palin and her husband, Todd, belonged to the party in 1994. Mark Chryson, chairman of the Independence Party from 1995 to 2002, told the network that Palin attended the party's convention in 1994. He said he was not certain if she was a party member, and party records do not date back that far. Obama advisers and surrogates have also linked Palin to conservative former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. An Associated Press story from Alaska, dated July 17, 1999, states that Palin, then the mayor of the small town of Wasilla, was wearing a Buchanan button during a Buchanan visit to Alaska. The Miami Herald this week quoted an e-mail from Obama Florida spokesman Mark Bubriski that stated: "Palin was a supporter of Pat Buchanan, a right-winger or as many Jews call him: a Nazi sympathizer." The McCain campaign says Palin supported Steve Forbes' campaign in 1999. "Supporters of Barack Obama are engaged in an unfortunate and nasty smear campaign," said Rogers, the McCain spokesman. While Obama advisers and surrogates have drawn attention to Palin's political associations, the campaign has strictly avoided any comment on issues related to Palin's family, specifically anything focused on her 17-year-old daughter's out-of wedlock pregnancy. "I think people's families are off limits and people's children are especially off limits," Obama said Monday. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |
| blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/another-aip-off.html Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories. 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 say 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. 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. 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. But she hasn't exactly been making herself available to the press. For her part, Ms Clark -- a self-employed gold miner who wants Alaska to become an independent nation -- says that the McCain campaign pushback that Pain was never part of the AIP is "hooey." "This is like a cat covering up crap in its litter box," she says. Another AIP Official Says Palin Was at 1994 Convention*: User Comments CBS News reports that Chryson who says Palin was at the 1994 Convention did not see her himself. Posted by: Scott Anderson | Sep 3, 2008 1:50:00 AM Can you IMAGINE how crazy the right wing would be going if Michelle or Barack Obama had been associated with a group like this? Sean Hannity would be talking about it every day on his program. Something tells me that when it is Sarah Palin or her husband they won't bring it up. I guess we can only question the patriotism of Democrats. Posted by: Tanya | Sep 2, 2008 11:04:38 PM Why does Todd Palin hate America? the party ticket should read the angry old man and the traitor. Posted by: sk8boardgrind | Sep 2, 2008 8:50:33 PM Maryam says that Palin has galvanized the "base" and they'll come out in droves for Palin. But those same people also hate McCain, finding him to be too wishy washy on nearly every "base" issue. So, at *best* the Palin pick merely evens out the enthusiasm of the "base" a little, while scaring off people that were on the fence about McCain. She's a nightmare, and McCain didn't know it because he had only just barely met her once before picking her. This goes to show just how he'd run the whitehouse if elected. Posted by: McPain | Sep 2, 2008 8:48:37 PM I never knew how nervous the Democrats were becoming until watching their reaction to medias smearing of Palin. Yet they are so wrapt up in the feeding frenzy that they can't see what Palin is doing for the Republican party base. She has singlehandedly galvanized the base and got them excited about a McCain presidency. In November they'll come out in droves like never before and vote McCain/Palin into office. It is not difficult to understand why the Democrats are so frightened of Sarah Palin VP pick but the delicious dichotomy is that their media's hyper-ventilated political hack job on Sarah Palin is finally energizing the Republican base like nothing else would! Posted by: maryam | Sep 2, 2008 8:08:15 PM This is an important story. Come on, after all the hooey about Michelle and Baraks patriotism. On another note, what about the gathering of over 10,000 people at the Ron Paul dissident convention? Posted by: RepubinGa | Sep 2, 2008 7:04:05 PM Interesting, The "Liberal Media Conspiracy" just pulled the link to the Palin AIP speech and left me with a dangling comment. Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 6:08:13 PM And to believe she would be a heartbeat away from being Commander-in-Chief if McCain dies. I fought for the United States of America, I guess she wanted us to find for the Nation of Alaska and the other Red States. Posted by: Doug | Sep 2, 2008 6:05:37 PM I'm having a Deja Vu moment here... Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:54:57 PM Jude, The less you know, the more qualified you are. Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:50:28 PM I guess Palin is actually more qualified than ANY Senator to be at the top of the ticket if you happen to buy that logic. Posted by: Jude | Sep 2, 2008 5:45:56 PM Ouch, That last round in my foot stings a bit. A bigger question actually, if in fact she is playing both sides of the fence on the Alaska First issue. Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:39:21 PM Who says Sarah Palin doesn't have foreign policy experience? Indeed, if she and her husband and the AIP had their way, Alaska would be a foreign country! Posted by: Timothy Cleaveland | Sep 2, 2008 5:37:59 PM I was ready to drop this with the lack of a paper trail... Is there a reasonable doubt as to where her loyalties lay?.. Not So Much Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:35:00 PM It's too bad, we're not looking at the right issues and assigning anger to the right person. He couldn't pick Lieberman, so he picks the weakest person he could. I guess figuring, well I can't have my way, I'll show you(Republican Party) He's been smiling and laughing ever since. If he wanted a female VP, I find it difficult to believe Palin is it. He's walked on the toes of every female qualified senator and he 's laughing at it. At one point, McCain was going to independent, leaving the Republican party. But he said, oh, heck I'll hang in there vote with Bush. Now for lots and lots of reason, he's picked Palin whom I understand after the fact, he's team is finally vetting. If he gets elected, he'll get to thumb his nose at the entire country. for being left for 5 1/2 years as a POW If he really cared, I believe he would have sought a qualified VP. So if you're upset, be upset with the right person and look right at McCain. After all he talked to her for 5-10 minutes, he knows her well. You mean to tell me that McCain couldn't find a VP candidate that didn't want their to seceed from the Union? Posted by: petraK | Sep 2, 2008 5:30:49 PM Big D, What does that actually mean? Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:28:37 PM wonder when their records stopped going back that far Posted by: zoom24 | Sep 2, 2008 5:24:33 PM Leonard: Something you have been lost your whole life... Posted by: Big Daddy | Sep 2, 2008 5:24:05 PM It's typical of these republicans to attack Obama personally with lies rather then to want to debate the real issues this country is facing. Let's talk about Palin and what lack of vetting was done in selecting her. McCain jumped the gun and chose Palin for the wrong reasons. I'm sure there is a more qualified vp candidate out there for McCain. Her last pregnancy was strange being that she didn't show physically at all. Why tell the world she is pregnant and then say they want privacy. Posted by: Daisy | Sep 2, 2008 5:23:53 PM Big Daddy, You lost me at #1. If only all terrorists just had "Terrorist" as their middle name we could cut the CIA budget substantially. Yet they are willing to spread factless rumours about a woman. I will be listening to Sarah Palin herself on Wednesday. I don't want my impressin filtered through the Obama MSM lens. Posted by: Kathy Corey | Sep 2, 2008 5:17:03 PM I guess Palin is actually more qualified than ANY Senator to be at the top of the ticket if you happen to buy that logic. Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:16:19 PM As a slight divergence from the thread, it just occurred to me that all of the "no experience" arguments that are being made against Obama would have been used verbatim against Hillary. So what does that really say about the validity of the argument? Posted by: Leonard Peltier | Sep 2, 2008 5:14:24 PM If the MSM can play 10-30 seconds worth of video of Jeremiah Wrig... |
| www.jcpa.org/jl/vp446.htm One claims that the community is too small to affect national elections; A contrasting view holds that US Jews play a disproportionately large role in national politics thanks to their campaign donations and media influence. According to evidence confirmed in the most recent elections, however, American Jewish voters maintain the potential to be the decisive factor in national election results. Yet, this ability does not emanate from any financial or public relations clout, which is overestimated. Anyone recalling the recent hair-splitting tally of individual ballots in a few Florida counties will realize that every vote counts. It should also be noted that Jews happen to comprise a high proportion of the Florida electorate, especially in those counties that remained in suspense. Yet, on closer examination, Florida emerges as just one of a handful of equally influential states across the country where Jews are similarly concentrated. In fact, Jews make up a significant portion of the electorate in several key "swing states," the hard-fought electoral battlegrounds that make or break candidates for president. But the greatest political strength of American Jewry lies in the fact that it is a uniquely swayable bloc . The issue of support for Israel has proven capable of spurring a sizable portion of Jews to switch parties - in large enough numbers to tip the scales in national or statewide elections. Moreover, the "Israel swing vote" is especially open to political courtship because, unlike the interests of other minority groups, support for Israel has long been compatible with traditional Republican and Democratic agendas. On the other hand, being distinctively unsupportive of Israel can significantly hurt a candidate's chances. The Jews that Count In the 2000 election, Florida was one of several "swing states" where Republicans and Democrats expended most of their energies, on the theory that these electorates could be swayed to either party. Other such states included Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even - according to the Bush campaign - California, along with a handful of smaller states considered to be "in play." California hosts some 970,000 Jews, who are 29 percent of the state's population but a full 6 percent of the electorate, according to a Los Angeles Times exit poll. But the remaining 30 to 35 percent can be lured by any party depending on its position. In both cases, a shift of that amount (or less) would have changed the result in that state and, in all probability, single-handedly crowned the American president. Put another way, the Jewish swing vote, mobilized behind a particular candidate, would have given him the 2000 election. It explains why Gore, though confident he would carry the majority of Jewish voters, sent his Jewish vice presidential candidate, Senator Joseph Lieberman, to Florida on a string of sudden, unscheduled visits throughout September. And while Gore was more confident of taking Pennsylvania and California, the GOP believed that these states were close (they turned out to be right about Pennsylvania). Indeed, Governor Bush was careful to take clearly pro-Israel positions. He chose California, for example, to announce that, if elected, he planned to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He also publicly criticized Clinton's ambitious peace plans as too "aggressive." The voting pattern of Jews nationwide more or less mirrored that of the previous two elections, suggesting that there was no particularly strong reaction to either of the candidates that offset party loyalties. Nationwide, some 79 percent of American Jews voted for Gore, 19 percent for Bush, and 1 percent for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, according to Voter News Service. Similarly, in 1996, Clinton reportedly took 78 percent of the Jewish vote, with Bob Dole garnering 16 percent for the Republicans, and 3 percent going to Ross Perot's Independent Party. The nomination of Lieberman, the first Jewish vice presidential candidate and an openly affiliated Jew, might have been expected to lure even more Jewish voters to the Democrats. In addition, some predicted that Bush's association with his father, the ex-president whom Jews overwhelmingly rejected in 1992, would have scared some Jews away from the GOP. Given these factors, Bush's showing is actually quite impressive. Seth Lipsky, former editor and publisher of the Forward , notes that Bush's success could be viewed as "a sign that the Republicans will gain ground if they court the Jewish vote, as they did in this election." Bush has "taken a hard line on Israel," adds Lipsky, and "surrounded himself with a wonderful set of advisors on Jewish-related foreign policy issues." Why Israel Still Matters in US Elections American Jews not only have a swing vote - a constituency that can be swayed in any direction - they also have a swing issue: support for Israel. The evidence shows that when the Jewish community judges a candidate to be distinctly problematic on Israel, it will desert that candidate or his party in decisive numbers. This shift can be so significant that it could easily decide the outcome in a swing state in a close election like that of 2000. Although Jews had overwhelmingly supported Democrats in the three previous presidential races, from John F Kennedy (82 percent in 1960), to Lyndon Johnson (90 percent), to Hubert Humphrey (81 percent), they were apprehensive about George McGovern in his challenge to Richard Nixon. McGovern, a left-liberal isolationist, was seen as likely to weaken US support for Israel if elected. In June 1972, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yitzhak Rabin went so far as to express a preference for Nixon over McGovern. The election saw an unprecedented exodus from the Democratic party: 16 percent of the American Jewish electorate shifted away from the Democrats, with McGovern taking only 64 percent of the Jewish vote. By contrast, the shift from the Democratic party on the part of the overall national electorate was a mere 4 percent. Polls taken a month earlier indicated that Carter would beat Kennedy in the New York Democratic primary by a margin of 54 to 28 percent. But on March 1, Carter's UN Ambassador, Donald F McHenry, voted for a viciously anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlement activity in Jerusalem. Three weeks later, Kennedy beat Carter in New York by 59 percent to 41 percent. In an interview with the Washington Post , Carter directly linked his loss in New York with his ambassador's support for the anti-Israel resolution at the UN three weeks earlier. On the other hand, Republican challenger Ronald Reagan was viewed as exceptionally pro-Israel. In the end, 20 percent of the Jewish electorate deserted the Democrats in the 1980 election. A full 39 percent backed Reagan and 15 percent went to third party candidate John Anderson. Carter was left with a mere 45 percent of the Jewish vote. Bush had drawn the ire of American Jewry through a number of policies relating to the Jewish state. Openly disdainful of Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Bush threatened to deny Israel much-needed loan guarantees to help absorb Soviet Jews, a threat meant to pressure Israel on its settlement policy. Moreover, Bush famously alluded to Israel's supporters in Congress - perhaps to the Jewish community as a whole - with his foreboding reference to his struggle as a "lonely man" against "powerful political forces." That is clearly the most dramatic shift in Jewish support to coincide with a candidate's controversial stance on Israel. Four years earlier, Bush had received 27 percent of the Jewish vote in his 1988 race against Governor Michael Dukakis. Yet, the fact remains that any of the shifts cited here, had they taken place in the 2000 election, could have determined who would become the next US president. Notably, they all took effect when a candidate seemed conspicuously threatening to Israel. Impact of the Swing Vote It has been suggested that Jewish voters tend to shift their support along with the larger electorate. After all, support for Bush declined among the American elector... |
| preview.tinyurl.com/5ocz3w -> wizbangblue.com/2008/09/02/more-palin-poo-aip-and-buchanan.php Lee Ward Published: Sep 2, 08 04:11 PM I've really got to believe that the McCain people DID NOT do their homework on Palin. The Palin Poo Pile just keeps getting deeper and deeper the more digging that's done. First -- Palin and the McCain campaign have flat-out denied that Palin had any involvement with the Alaska Independence Party (AIP) - a bona-fide political party formed in Alaska for the expressed purpose of having Alaska secede from the union. Kinda throws a wrench in the whole "Country First" banner/meme running across the Republican National Convention stage -- when the VP is supporting a movement that puts Alaska first, and the US second... Of course John McCain and Sarah Palin denied Palin was involved in the AIP. Members of 'Fringe' Alaskan Independence Party Say Palin Was a Member in 90s Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States. And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always." After refraining from commenting on the charge for a day, the McCain campaign on Tuesday asserted that Palin was never a member of the AIP. But Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Another AIP Official Says Palin Was at 1994 Convention An intense "she said"/"she said" has emerged 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 say 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. Republicans have a much better track record than the AIP. And Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, tells ABC News that regardless of the impression given to members of the Alaskan Independence Party, "Gov. ") 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. as first noticed by "The Nation": in an Associated Press story from July 17, 1999, titled, "Buchanan takes conservative message to Fairbanks." In Wasilla, Buchanan took some shots at the "Republican establishment," saying it was willing to cast aside conservative ideals in a zeal to ensure the nomination for Bush. Among those sporting Buchanan buttons were Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and state Sen. Palin wrote to the AP that her presence at the rally and her wearing a Buchanan button were merely ways to welcome Buchanan to Wasilla, not endorsements of his candidacy. Buchanan told Chris Matthews yesterday that Palin "was a brigader in 1996 as was her husband, Chris, they were at a fundraiser for me, she's a terrific gal, she's a rebel reformer." Palin doesn't lie as well as the other Republicans, and should have been disqualified from the VP position on that basis alone. They are imploding - the GOP is in a full-force meltdown. If McCain knew about this crap and selected her anyway, it's the equivalent of political Hari-Kari - if they didn't know, why the hell not? These are the clowns that want to run this country into the ground for another four years? Paul Hooson: Former alcoholic Glen Beck just described himself as "White Trash" on CNN to Wolf Blitzer and said that an awful lot of Americans are also "White Trash" in describing a defense to Sarah Palin's family. Couple these "White Trash" family values with Palin's kooky far right politics and you have the very worst vp selection in some years. For my money, that was really some defense coming from Glen Beck. The one who wins is the one who is considered the most in touch. In other words, elitist looses because there are NOT enough elitist votes to carry the Electoral College. Obama kicked Hillary's arse because he was more in touch with those who go to Dem Caucuses than Hillary. He is also more in touch with the media elite (most of them). That approach won't work in the general election and he knows it. First and formost, Obama IS a politician, Chicago style. Just always remember, don't fall in love with a politician, he/she will break your heart and pick your wallet. September 2, 2008 17:56 Rich: I am trying to see where this is a bad thing. If she was at the convention and her husband was the member,could she not have been going with her spouse? You guys keep digging and digging and find weaker and weaker points. The funniest part is the weaker it is,the more you predict the doom of the republican party and all conservatives. Neil B: Yes, it's suspicious but I suggest caution pushing Palin being a member of AIP until there's real documentation. Also, critics should be careful not to dump on her too much, there could be a sympathy backlash. html But if the party leaders are so ditzy they keep changing stories about whether a prominent person like the Governor was really a member, that isn't very complimentary. But maybe SP really was after all, and someone "got to them"? Palin has been brought to the main stage with no prior hint from McCain -- if he'd been hinting at Palin previously then the vetting would have been taking place for months - but it was John McCain's big surprise, and surprise - there is a big flurry of "who is she" and "why her?" that is all the result of John McCain's choice on rolling this out as a surprise. But Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. and McCain says: 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. Lily Allen and Elton go at it at GQ Awards The combined star power of Lily Allen and Elton John presenting the GQ Men of the Year Awards must have looked like a dream ticket on paper. Backgound on Palin's Troopergate - August 13 News Report Here's background information concerning Sarah Palin's "Troopergate" ethics probe: Be sure to stick around for the poll at the end of the news report above. At that point in time 12% of the respondents think Palin was telling the truth... More Palin Poo - AIP and Buchanan I've really got to believe that the McCain people DID NOT do their homework on Palin. The Palin Poo Pile just keeps getting deeper and deeper the more digging that's done. Republicans in Minnesota Party Through Gustav Beginning tonight you'll see the GOP present a somber face towards the nation as national television coverage of the GOP Nominating Convention gets underway. The GOP has indicated they will be soliciting donations for the dear folks of New Orleans... Gallup Daily: Obama Hits 50% for First Time Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42% back... Phelps uses $1 million Speedo bonus to create charitablefoundation Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, will use the $1 million bonus he earned from Speedo for tying Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals to start... Paul Azinger names his four Ryder Cup Captain's selections Three of whom have never played in the matches before. From AP- The US Ryder Cup team was completed Monday morning when captain Paul Azinger named Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker,... Alaska Independent Investigator's Abuse Of Power Ethics Report On Gov. Palin Due Out In October Just in tim... |