From John McCormack at the Weekly Standard blog:

In response to accusations that in the 1990s Sarah Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party – a third party that seeks a vote on making Alaska a sovereign state – the McCain campaign has provided records showing that Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982.

Jake Tapper has updated his post on Palin and the AIP with this response from the McCain campaign:

[McCain spokesman Brian] Rogers says the McCain campaign provided ABC News with all the voter registration information that exists. Rogers says that Palin didn’t attend the AIP convention in 1994, “but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor.”

He would not comment as to why AIP officials are so convinced Palin was a member of their party. When asked if Palin ever identified herself as a member of the AIP, Rogers said, “No, she’s a lifelong Republican.”

Given that Pat Buchanan’s claim that Palin was a “brigader” for him has been proven false, wouldn’t it make sense to be a little skeptical of minor political figures trying to attach themselves to Gov. Palin’s rising star from here on out?

If the Left Wing smear machine wants to play the guilt by association card with the bottom of the Republican ticket–which is apparently what they are attempting to do–the top of the Democratic ticket is a royal flush: Ayers, Rezko, Pfleger, Wright, and Dohrn. Remember, for every full disclosure on Gov. Palin, including documents such as her voting registration, something of equal value will be asked of Senator Obama. Every time the Dems up the ante for Gov. Palin, the GOP will raise them one Obama.

As I said before, this is starting to feel more and more like a Wellstone funeral.

(cross-posted)