07 September, 2008

roots of McCain's Palin

Only 1 percent of the Alaskan land is in private hands, and the economy is dependent on oil and other natural resources controlled by the federal government or Big Oil. As a result, nearly 50 years after statehood, Alaska remains deeply dependent on the federal government for support.

Social ills are rampant. The state's levels of drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence and child abuse are above average or among the highest in the country.

To the extent Palin has a governing philosophy, it was shaped by her political mentor, former governor Wally Hickel. The 89-year-old Hickel is a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which espouses, among other things, greater autonomy or even separation from the United States.

Husband Todd Palin is not a member of the party now, but he was registered as an AIP voter at different periods of his life totaling seven years.

Sarah has never been a member but attended a party conference in her hometown of Wasilla.) Hickel advocates an "economy of the commons," which would place the state's vast energy and mineral wealth in the hands of the state government and its citizens.

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