Informed Speculation

…with respect to the Sarah Palin pick, I pledge to try to keep an open mind until her acceptance speech.  However, one ‘scandal’ that has been reported as fact is apparently not.  Sarah Palin appears to have never been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, according to no less a far-left source than Mother Jones(!).  Yes, I’m flabbergasted, too – but the work of Mother Jones blogger Jonathan Stein in interviewing a key participant and debunking a story about a political opponent is certainly worthy of admiration (oh, sure, he still makes some ‘fellow traveler’ noises – but he’s still done a service by helping shoot this down).  Some details:

In the past few days, during Sarah Palin’s rough introduction to the American public, it has been reported (first by ABC News) that Palin, the governor of Alaska tapped by John McCain to be his running mate, was once a member of the Alaska Independence Party (AIP). This minor third party advocates for the secession of Alaska from the United States. It is affiliated with the Constitution Party, which supports the reign of Biblical common law. If Palin has indeed been an AIP true-believer, it would be rather curious: she would be a vice presidential candidate who favored reducing the size of the United States.

But it is getting harder to make that case. The McCain-Palin campaign on Tuesday released voter registration to show she was never registered to vote in Alaska as a member of the party. And a key source for the stories about Palin and the AIP backed off his account in an interview with Mother Jones. Palin’s husband has been a long-time AIP member, but ascertaining her true association with the party has been difficult.

In recent press reports, Lynette Clark, the AIP’s chairman, has been quoted as saying Palin was at an AIP convention in 1994 and was an official party member at the time. Other sources within the party tell Mother Jones that the only way to become a member of the AIP is to register to vote with the AIP. Yet the state of Alaska released records confirming what the McCain-Palin campaign had maintained: Palin never registered as an AIP member.

What explains the contradiction between Clark’s claim and the records? Dexter Clark, husband of Lynette and a vice chairman of the Alaska Independence Party, said that when his wife told reporters that Palin had been an AIP member she was “acting on information from Mark Chryson,” the party’s regional chair for Wasilla, Palin’s hometown. The 1994 convention was held in Wasilla, where Palin was a city councilmember at the time. Chryson “has repeatedly said to me personally and my wife, Lynette, and groups of party members at large, that at that 1994 convention, Sarah and Todd Palin attended and registered as members,” Dexter Clark told Mother Jones.

Asked how Palin could have been a member, when state records did not indicate Palin ever registered as an AIP member, Chyrson, in an interview with Mother Jones, backed off his account. “What could have been the confusion—her husband was a member of the party. He was at the convention. She could have been considered—it might have been thought she was a member then.” Talking Points Memo has reported that Todd Palin was a member of the AIP from 1995 to 2002, with the exception of a short period in 2000 when he was undeclared.

Chyrson said he did not remember seeing Sarah Palin at the 1994 convention: “I don’t, no. I was working behind the scenes. Back then I was only vaguely familiar with her. I would not have recognized her. I had just met her. I probably would not have recognized her.” He added that Sarah Palin did not play “an active role in the party” or to speak out for its causes.

So, let’s take that arrow out of the bag…it’s a case of mistaken identity based on her husband’s affiliation…

UPDATE 9:12 p.m.: Fred Thompson is throwing out a good defense of Palin, but somebody needs to get him a lozenge…if he clears his throat one more time, I’m going to scream!…okay, I’m screaming…

UPDATE 9:28 p.m.: The biggest applause lines from Thompson’s curiously flatly delivered speech are those that poke fun at Obama, there’s no doubt…but the best part was his recital of John McCain’s service in Vietnam…it’s still a compelling, moving American story…

UPDATE 9:38 p.m.: There’s a flat feeling in the hall…people were listening to Thompson more than Democrats were listening to the earlier speakers, but there’s much less ‘buzz’…part of it was probably genuine excitement among the Democrats, and part the weird way this convention got started…hopefully it will build momentum over the next couple of nights…

UPDATE 9:45 p.m.: Okay, enough about the hurricane already…one thing’s for sure, Lieberman is going to go from being the worst-hated Democrat to…well, the even-more-hated Democrat…he has unequivocally endorsed McCain and slammed Obama, at least indirectly…

UPDATE 9:48 p.m.: Lieberman gets off the best line of the night: “God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man”…

UPDATE 9:59 p.m.:  Lieberman got off another great line about Obama’s ‘eloquence’ and lack of readiness, and this one: “If John McCain is another partisan Republican, I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat”…once more, I have to bemoan what might have been, had Lieberman been on the ticket…