"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." Joe Vogler
This is a statement by Joe Vogler, founder of the Alaskan Independence Party. I've been looking at these people a little bit to see what they're about. Alaskan Independence Party The question I really wanted to know is if Governor Palin was ever a member of this party. The answer seems to be yes, according to party chairwoman Lynette Clark. ABC News Clark says that Palin attended the 1994 party convention held in Wasilla. She changed her party affiliation to Republican when she ran for mayor of Wasilla in 1996. Her husband Todd, who was also a member until 1996, switched to Independent, which is currently still his party affiliation.
After looking at the party platform it seems that one of their main objections is the federal government ownership of Alaskan lands. They believe that all land should be privately owned. They also believe that all government functions should be privatized and property taxes should be abolished. They want Alaskans to vote on whether Alaska should remain a state, be a territory or commonwealth, or become an independent nation. They have also entertained the notion of joining the western Canadian provences to become an independent nation.
Joe Vogler was born in Kanas in 1913. He started law school at the University of Kansas in 1929 where he graduated with a law degree 5 years later. He moved to Alaska in 1942 where he worked for the Army Corps of Engineers until 1951 when he started mining for gold. He started the Alaskan Independence Party in the early 70's and first ran for governor in 1974. He was murdered in 1993 under mysterious circumstances. He body was not found for a year when a man named Manfried West confessed to the murder. He was buried in the Yukon Territory because he had said that he didn't wish to be buried on American soil.
The term right wing kook comes to mind. To me the idea of secession from the Union seems a little outdated. It's been tried before you know. And it didn't end well for the secessionists. Some would even consider it treason. It seems a strange that someone running for president on a country first platform would pick somebody who held such views to be his running mate.