What makes republicans think Palin's arctic wilderness ideology remotely resembles anything like conservatism in the heartland? Her husband Todd Palin was a registered Alaskan Independence Party member from 1995 to 2002 when she was mayor from 1996 to 2002. The Alaskan Independence Party advocates that Alaska break away from America, like the confederate states during the Civil War, to form its own soverign nation, using violence if necessary. AIP party members have said that the only reason she was a registered republican and not a registered AIP member was so that she could run for mayor. She and her husband have attended their conventions in years past, and she even addressed their convention earlier this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI Their founder Joe Vogler has said "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government...and I won't be buried under their damn flag!" He has also said "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."