It might not make Minnesotans blink to learn that Republican vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin was once a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Minnesota has a similarly named band, associated with a colorful former governor, wonkish subsequent leadership and centrist positions on issues.
That wouldn't accurately describe the Alaska Independence crowd. Their big issue is right out of the 19th century -- secession from the union. As their web site says, their goal is for "Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government." They want to force a popular vote over statehood that they say they were denied in 1958. Their philosophical bedfellows are in the right-wing Constitution Party, whose presidential candidate, Charles Baldwin, they prefer over John McCain.
The New York Times reports that Palin was a member of the Alaska Independence Party for two years in the 1990s. Evidently, she's still on good terms with the third party. Her video welcome to the AIP 2008 convention earlier this year in Fairbanks emphasized how much her administration and the party have in common.
