MSNBC's Chris Matthews charged GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as being a member of Alaska's Independence party. Members of this party advocate to secede from the union and place all federally owned land under state control. Even after Howard Fineman mentioned he received documentation from the McCain campaign showing Palin had been a registered Republican since 1982 and never a member of the Alaskan Independence party, Matthews continued to make the connection of Alaskan secessionist leader Joe Vogler to Palin. Joe Vogler's views are pefect media fodder to make Palin look fringy. It seems as if MSNBC and others are looking for their own William Ayers or Jeremiah Wright to pin on the McCain Palin campaign to scare away voters. Matthews quoted Vogler:
"I'm an Alaskan not an American. I've got no use for America or its damned institutions."
The connection to Palin still remains weak. If the media is so interested in fringe movements candidates were actually involved in, the currently ignored Annenberg papers provide all the information needed.