I love my RAS and yes you should be able to rip on it. It is not my first choice for RIP cuts by any means, but I have a full selection of tools to chose from. There is a lot of people out there that would have a stroke at the thought of using RAS for this. My advice is do some reading before you start cutting. Learn to set up the saw up correctly for RIP cuts. ALWAYS use a push block!

As for blades, the more teeth the better/smoother the cut will be. Of course that assumes the saw it set up correctly too.

http://www.powertoolinstitute.com/safety/radial.html This site has some good advice.

Now with that said. If you have another way to do this I would suggest it. Cutting such thin strips on a RAS isn't going to be the easiest thing. Your going to have to be careful. It can be done, just work safely.