Sarah Palin to Resign

[Tanasinn]

The farther this worthless, incompetent, corrupt, barely-sapient bitch is from political power, the better. No matter the reasoning she has come up with in her little pea brain, it's a welcome happening.

[FSTargetDrone]

I just watched the press conference. Something that struck out at me, she spent a hefty amount of time talking about States Rights, the ethical charges against her and how they were all dropped, stimulus money, and the evil federal government. Intermixed with that was a good strong dose of how she's done JUST SO MUCH GOOD GOSH DARNIT when it comes to the state's natural resources. If we assume the worst and this resignation is indeed scandal related, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that it involves some serious misspending related to environmental issues. The whole conference just seemed so damn non-sequitur to her actual resignation, and she really tried to rush through the actual announcement.

I need to find a transcript, but she used the word "quit" (as in she is not one to quit) at least twice, I think, and other words like that.

But, she is in effect, quitting!

She spoke of disdain for other "lame duck" politicians milking the end of their terms, going on overseas or out-of-state junkets and such, wasting taxpayers' money. Well, no one said she has leave the state! And in any case, she has spent a considerable amount of time away from the capitol, doing the things she decries.

The speech was not at all self-consistent.

[D.Turtle]

Well, first Andrea Mitchell and others were told off the record that Palin would not run for election in 2012.

Now the first rumours of a possible criminal investigation are appearing:

Sarah Palin Resigning as Alaska's Governor (VIDEO)

UPDATE 8:02 PM EST

Sarah Palin's speech this morning rocked Alaskans and people around the country. Palin's predictability is her unpredictability. I'm seeing Alaskan flags on cars, in front of houses, some citizens expressing their own Independence Day. Other citizens are angry and playing the blame game; the bloggers, the MSM, Alaskan legislators, her family under attack, etc.

For weeks the rumors of a criminal investigation against the governor have been brewing. They are rumors, but are swirling fresh again with Palin's resignation. I'm holding my breath for the other "Naughty Monkey" to drop. Another theory for the resignation is that the Palins would have to disclose the book deal as well as other financial details as governor.

Sources say, the third in line for the governorship, Corrections Commissioner, Joe Schmidt, has declined to become Lieutenant Governor. There is no official word of who will become take Sean Parnell's position as he ascends to the governorship.

Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC is now claiming Palin has told some close to her that she is through with politics.

I have said Sarah Palin's political ambition combined with her intellect is like putting a jet engine on a golf cart; lots of horse power and no steering capabilities. Today she proved it.

Alaskans pride ourselves on our frontier spirit, but this isn't what we meant. There is much work ahead to put the drama behind us and carry on to the betterment of our state.

That's just how "mavericky" we are.

---

UPDATE 4:05 PM EST

Rumors of an "iceberg scandal" have been circulating.

Resignation is certainly out of character for Sarah Palin. Senator Mark Begich had a meeting with Sarah Palin two days ago with no mention of her leaving office. Palin's press secretary, David Murrow had posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, "David Murrow is considering life's ironies." He was hired less than a month ago. Yesterday he wrote, "There's gonna be some fireworks this weekend!"

Palin's father, Chuck Heath, told Fox News that he thought her resignation was due to the negativity from the media. According to Heath, the governor was unable to be effective while she was constantly having to defend herself against ethics complaints and the media.

You betcha!

---

ORIGINAL POST:

After Sarah Palin's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week she has announced she will be stepping down in a few weeks. In a press conference call this morning, Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin announced she will not run for re-election and is stepping down as governor.

She had a brief statement. She took no questions.

Her commissioners and Lt. Governor were with her at her home. Palin did not relinquish the reins of the state to the Lt. Governor while running for vice president.

Lt. Governor Sean Parnell will step in as governor at the end of the month. He was defeated by Congressman Don Young in the Republican primary last year.

This will be fun to watch

[ClownPrinceofCrime]

Another possibility is her health, she could have been diagnosed with something that would require her to spend time on herself rather than on the governorship (not sure how likely that is though).

[Lord of the Abyss]

Another possibility is her health, she could have been diagnosed with something that would require her to spend time on herself rather than on the governorship (not sure how likely that is though).

I doubt it; why not say so ? Resigning due to poor health wouldn't make her look nearly as bad. And it would protect her somewhat from further criticism, since picking on sick people is typically considered in poor taste ( at least on the Left ).

[J]

2) She knows that something is about to hit the fan either with state finances, intra-party politics or possibly family shit that she doens't want to be on national television again.

State finances is a strong possibility since Alaska is projected to suffer a 30% shortfall in its budget for the next fiscal year, this is even worse than California's current budget crunch. If oil prices continue to fall the gap will grow even wider.

[CmdrWilkens]

I think she is taking time to prepare - for the real preparation.
First, she propably needs to "catch her breath", as already mentioned by RedImperator.

Second, some time to vanish out of public view is likely quite important for her. Every day she stays in office, she not only accumulates more negative reputation (due to being a bad governor) but also keeps the memory of her monumental failures during McCains campaign alive.

Of course, abandoning her duty will likely have a devastating impact once she tries to get back into major politics.
But either she figures that the people that will vote for her wont care about that, or she hopes that it will be dimished by time. I do not think she is unaware of it, though, unless she is as stupid as she seems to be (which i doubt).

Either way, i am glad that she resigns. Alaska has a chance to get a competent governor, its better for the GOP (and the US need at least two strong political parties, otherwise its hardly a democracy), it will likely ruin her future attemps on major politics, and i do not have to hear anything of her for quite some time.

Here's the problem. One of the biggest knocks on her from virtually every quarter was that she had virtually no expereince when she was tapped for the VP ticket. She had, at that point, served roughly 1.5 years as Governor and while her approval ratings were high she also led a state where the state government doesn't have to tax you in order to provide social services so the sorts of "no taxes makes a better America" shit she likes to peddle is a lot easier to sell. Dropping out of political sight after only an additional year on the job means that the knock is still out there against her with the added joy of being so unable to handle what she did have that she left early. In other words there is no narrative that she can plausibly spin out of this that sets her up for 2012. Her second biggest weakness (though her crazy inability to articulate on the fly might actually be an asset in Republican primaries) will still be present and for all the lack of depth in the Repubican field there are plenty out there with fewer weaknesses than her.

[FSTargetDrone]

I doubt it; why not say so ? Resigning due to poor health wouldn't make her look nearly as bad. And it would protect her somewhat from further criticism, since picking on sick people is typically considered in poor taste ( at least on the Left ).

I agree. If there were health problems (with her or her family, especially the baby who has Down Syndrome) she could have merely said something generic like, "personal" or "family" reasons. Especially if they didn't want to get into details. Not that something like that would stay secret for long. Citing health reasons would make her much more sympathetic.

No, there must be something else to this. It's either a wacky political strategy, or there is something going on they she doesn't want to talk about. And that wacky political strategy seems really hard to believe.

The transcript is here:

Posted on Fri, Jul. 03, 2009

Here's the complete transcript of Palin's resignation remarks

Anchorage Daily News

This is the full transcript of Gov. Sarah Palin's announcement Friday that she would resign from the governor's office in three weeks. She did not say precisely what she would do after leaving office. The transcript was prepared by the Anchorage Daily News.

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly to you, the people I serve, as your Governor.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.

I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.

Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America. We’re strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny.

Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”.

And we are doing well! My administration's accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans.

We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to HELP people... and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with our policies.

Here’s some of the things we’ve done:

We created a petroleum integrity office to oversee safe development. We held the line FOR Alaskans on Point Thomson – and finally for the first time in decades – they’re drilling for oil and gas.

We have AGIA, the gasline project – a massive bi-partisan victory (the vote was 58 to 1!) – also succeeding as intended - protecting Alaskans as our clean natural gas will flow to energize us, and America, through a competitive, pro-private sector project. This is the largest private sector energy project, ever. THIS is energy independence.

And ACES – another bipartisan effort – is working as intended and industry is publicly acknowledging its success. Our new oil and gas “clear and equitable formula” is so Alaskans will no longer be taken advantage of. ACES incentivizes NEW exploration and development and JOBS that were previously not going to happen with a monopolized North Slope oil basin.

We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform.

We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes... but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.

We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be.

We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance.

We broke ground on the new prison.

And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets... the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said "no" to our pay raises. So much success in this first term – and with this success I am proud to take credit... for hiring the right people! Our goal was to achieve a gasline project, more fair oil and gas valuation, and ethics reform in four years. We did it in two. It’s because of the people… good public servants surrounding the Governor's office, with servants' hearts and astounding work ethic... THEY are Alaska's success!

We are doing well! I wish you'd hear MORE from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - SPECIAL interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense!

Another accomplishment – our Law Department protected states’ rights – TWO huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in OUR state’s favor over the last two weeks. We’re protectors of our Constitution – federalists protect states’ rights as mandated in 10th amendment.

But you don’t hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year – the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate – I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.

It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but THIS isn’t what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.

If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices!

And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose NOT to tear down and waste precious time; but to build UP this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!

Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.

Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time... to BUILD UP.

And there is such a need to BUILD up and FIGHT for our state and our country. I choose to FIGHT for it! And I'll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and LIFE... I'll work for and campaign for those PROUD to be American, and those who are INSPIRED by our ideals and won't deride them.

I WILL support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the RIGHT reasons, and I don't care what party they're in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska.

But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.

I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to HELP people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor.

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that – I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ? That’s not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old “politics as usual.” I promised that four years ago – and I meant it.

It’s not what is best for Alaska.

I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and not so comfortable.

With this announcement that I am not seeking re-election… I’ve determined it’s best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell; and I am willing to do so, so that this administration – with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future – can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.

My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me – sports… basketball. I use it because you’re naïve if you don’t see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN. And I’m doing that – keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities – smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it’s time to pass the ball – for victory.

I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics.

I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you TRUST me with this decision – but it’s no more “politics as usual”.

Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either. ? Some will question the timing. ? Let’s just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile…

In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?" It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that... I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig - I know he needs me, but I need him even more... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT – that time is precious... the world needs more "Trigs", not fewer.

My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for OUR freedom and security… we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that LIFE is short so they choose to NOT waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than SELF... and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions – those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and NOT this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport.

May we ALL learn from them!

*((Gotta put First Things First))*

First things first: as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska. I’ve explained why… though I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator that says “Don’t explain: your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.”

But I have given my reasons… no more “politics as usual” and I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction.

Now, despite this, I don’t want any Alaskan dissuaded from entering politics after seeing this REAL “climate change” that began in August… no, we NEED hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! And I will support you because we need YOU and YOU can effect change, and I can too on the outside.

We need those who will respect our Constitution where government’s supposed to serve from the BOTTOM UP, not move toward this TOP DOWN big government take-over… but rather, will be protectors of individual rights - who also have enough common sense to acknowledge when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it’s time so the team can win! And that is what I’m doing!

Remember Alaska… America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good. So God bless you, and from me and my family - to ALL Alaska - you have my heart.

And we will be in the capable hands of our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. And Lieutenant General Craig Campbell will assume the role of Lieutenant Governor. And it is my promise to you that I will always be standing by, ready to assist. We have a good, positive agenda for Alaska.

In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

"Hi Alaska"? What is she, 6 years old?

EDIT:

I thought there was more after the MacArthur thing at the end, but I could be wrong? That's all they have at the site and it says "complete transcript."

[erik_t]

Many hours later, this keeps making less and less sense. I'm still in an even greater state of shock than when her VP candidacy was announced, and I didn't think anything even tangentially related to the woman would ever top that.

[FSTargetDrone]

Sorry--edit window--yes, that is the complete transcript except for a brief introduction of the lieutenant governor right after the MacArthur thing.

And, the video is here.

[Patrick Degan]

Actually watching the video now...

Jeebus Fucking Cthulhu but she sounds a bigger imbecile than she did getting her ass kicked in the interview with Katie Couric.

The world needs more Down's Syndrome babies? Not to be "mocking and harassing" poor little Trig (where did that come from?!?), but is this woman entirely sane?

[Knife]

Next week will be interesting. Something has to come out, because this just doesn't make any sense. I mean, a trip to Argentina, or she did it with Ellen Degeneres or something, lead out of her house with handcuffs. A simple 'hurrumph, I don't want to play any more' just doesn't make sense.

[RedImperator]

Next week will be interesting. Something has to come out, because this just doesn't make any sense. I mean, a trip to Argentina, or she did it with Ellen Degeneres or something, lead out of her house with handcuffs. A simple 'hurrumph, I don't want to play any more' just doesn't make sense.

I'm putting my money on "burnt out, I don't want to play anymore". Does Sarah Palin strike you as the type to say, "Ah, shit, I'm dead meat once this hits the papers"? For anything this side of baby-eating, I'd expect her to hang on to the bitter end. Everything we know about Sarah Palin paints a picture of a narcissistic, power-drunk loon with zero self-awareness--exactly the type to fight a scandal until she was dragged out of the statehouse.

But burnout? That can happen to anyone, and to be fair, I'd probably burn out in her situation, too.

[FSTargetDrone]

And if it is simply burn out, and if she tries to run again for another office 2 or 3 years from now, you can bet the opposition will have a commercial reminding everyone about it:

"Sarah Palin didn't have what it takes to complete her first term as governor of the state of Alaska. How can she be trusted to run for office again?"

[Azazal]

Call me pert of the cynical lunatic fringe , but I'm betting that the First Dude was caught red-handed fucking one of Bristol's friends. Sarah used up all the political capital she had getting it hushed ala "trooper-gate" and now she's cutting and running as part of the deal to make the statutory rape charges go away.

[irishmick79]

Mike Huckabee has to be dancing for joy this morning. He is now in a prime position to make inroads with the conservative wing dominated by Palin, and he's probably more capable of successfully doing that than Romney ever will be. Huck is probably more capable of crossing over between the religious right and the more populist and moderate wing of the GOP, and that can put him in the nomination driver's seat.

[The Romulan Republic]

Mike Huckabee has to be dancing for joy this morning. He is now in a prime position to make inroads with the conservative wing dominated by Palin, and he's probably more capable of successfully doing that than Romney ever will be. Huck is probably more capable of crossing over between the religious right and the more populist and moderate wing of the GOP, and that can put him in the nomination driver's seat.

Which is a scary thought indeed. Huckabee strikes me as the most viable 2012 threat to Obama's Presidency at the moment, so anything that helps along his ambitions worries me.

Of course, a lot can change in three years.

[CmdrWilkens]

2) She knows that something is about to hit the fan either with state finances, intra-party politics or possibly family shit that she doens't want to be on national television again.

State finances is a strong possibility since Alaska is projected to suffer a 30% shortfall in its budget for the next fiscal year, this is even worse than California's current budget crunch. If oil prices continue to fall the gap will grow even wider.

I honestly think its this mixed with a desire to stop having people say mean things about her. All of her national exposure reeks of someone who feels that people should stop calling her stupid for not knowing what we expect someone in her position to know. She knows that with oil revenues falling, the multiple investigations into her office (Trooper gate, the Per Diem controversey, the wassila residence), and the general recession that there would just be too much shit going on. I wouldn't be suprised if someone within the Alska Republican Party is already telling her that the state oil-refund check may have to be cut down this year back to the pre-Palin levels and that is about the last thing she wants to do. Somebody, and it now looks like it'll be Parnell, is gonna have to tighten up Alaska's belt and that means either cutting services below their already minimal levels OR cutting some of the rebate check. Neither move will be popular and the former may not be enough without at least some of the later. Democrats are resurgent to a degree in the cities so this kind of crisis of government could lead to an ouster of some statewide Republicans.

I think this move allows her to exit stage right before having to do anything hard. It allows her to go away, write some memoirs about "governing the RIGHT way" or some other such neo-con title, make a shit load of money AND avoid blame for the looming crises in her state. Sure it kills any future political chances but it is probably more renumerative for her to get out now.

[Axis Kast]

I think this move allows her to exit stage right before having to do anything hard. It allows her to go away, write some memoirs about "governing the RIGHT way" or some other such neo-con title, make a shit load of money AND avoid blame for the looming crises in her state. Sure it kills any future political chances but it is probably more renumerative for her to get out now.

What future chances does it 'kill'?

The public is fickle, and most of them will be anyway uninterested in "connecting the dots" to uncover a hidden scheme that shifts blame for Alaska's misfortunes.

In resigning, Palin will retain a maximum of the "folksy charm" that endears her to the demographic she needs to win. Remember, as of 2000, the Republican Party has focused on beating drums for the faithful, not reaching toward the small clutch of undecided voters nearer the center.

Palin's not the first politician to bow out angrily over "shabby treatment." She's also not going to have to paddle very hard up the river of recent history to find a precedent that suggests she can move on from resignation to the Oval Office. See: Nixon, Richard, M.

[CmdrWilkens]

I think this move allows her to exit stage right before having to do anything hard. It allows her to go away, write some memoirs about "governing the RIGHT way" or some other such neo-con title, make a shit load of money AND avoid blame for the looming crises in her state. Sure it kills any future political chances but it is probably more renumerative for her to get out now.

What future chances does it 'kill'?

The public is fickle, and most of them will be anyway uninterested in "connecting the dots" to uncover a hidden scheme that shifts blame for Alaska's misfortunes.

In resigning, Palin will retain a maximum of the "folksy charm" that endears her to the demographic she needs to win. Remember, as of 2000, the Republican Party has focused on beating drums for the faithful, not reaching toward the small clutch of undecided voters nearer the center.

Palin's not the first politician to bow out angrily over "shabby treatment." She's also not going to have to paddle very hard up the river of recent history to find a precedent that suggests she can move on from resignation to the Oval Office. See: Nixon, Richard, M.

Palin is outmanuvered by Huckabee for Evangelicals, she is outmanueverd on fiscal conservatism by Romney, she is outmanuevered on national security issue by Gingrich. She occupies a spot where if any of those three don't get in the race she could conceivably enter and get support but the above still leaves out Jindal, Pawlenty, and Jeb Bush. All six of those names can claim equal rights to a section of the party and none of them have done anything to anger the existing party infrastructure quite like she has (the CATO institute and RedState are both arguing her political career is over less than 24hrs after the announcement and they are hardly the only Republican strategeists and officials saying so).

In other words amongst the party faithful she may be well liked but its hard to imagine a scenario where she is the first choice. Paticularly of note is that the Evangelicals in Iowa are more likely to go Huckabee or Jindal over her and the fiscal conservative/libertarians in New Hampshire are more likely to prefer Romney to her. That is two straight losses out the gate and I just don't see her having the organizational skills and grit that McCain dispalyed in keeping his campaign alive long enough to start picking off some available targets.

Resigning now means that she has all but admitted that she can't handle to job and if anyone believes THAT wouldn't be a theme in the primaries they are kidding themselves.

[Axis Kast]

I said that Palin still had a political future. That this resignation wouldn't necessarily be her demise. I did not say that she was a sure shoe-in for 2012.

Besides that, Palin's not angling for fiscal conservatives or neo-conservatives; she's aiming her political sights on being able to do exactly what Bush and then Obama did: strike people as genuine, aw-shucks folks who specialize in the charisma-related roles of the presidency, and leave some of the major decisions to an educated circle of advisers.

Jindal's not had an excellent reception. Pawlenty, Sanford, and others are more obscure, still, than is Palin. Gingrich may be something of a has-been. Huckabee and Romney are, today, her primary competition; she's still number three.

[Darth Wong]

Remember all of those "sexists" who said that Palin was irresponsible to run for VP when she has so many personal obligations, and that she couldn't handle it? By resigning now, she has tacitly admitted that they were completely right. There's no way this doesn't undermine her credibility in any future campaign for any office in any area where the people outnumber the caribou, never mind the presidency.

[Uraniun235]

If oil revenues are dropping and the state budget will face a severe shortfall and the Governor of Alaska will actually be called upon to deliver real leadership... is it possible that Palin just wants to get out now because she doesn't want to have to do any actually hard work in the office? Is it possible that she's found being Princess Of The Graftocracy a lot of fun and just doesn't want to be around when it won't be fun anymore?

[RedImperator]

What future chances does it 'kill'?

The public is fickle, and most of them will be anyway uninterested in "connecting the dots" to uncover a hidden scheme that shifts blame for Alaska's misfortunes.

In resigning, Palin will retain a maximum of the "folksy charm" that endears her to the demographic she needs to win. Remember, as of 2000, the Republican Party has focused on beating drums for the faithful, not reaching toward the small clutch of undecided voters nearer the center.

Palin's not the first politician to bow out angrily over "shabby treatment." She's also not going to have to paddle very hard up the river of recent history to find a precedent that suggests she can move on from resignation to the Oval Office. See: Nixon, Richard, M.

How does Nixon's career suggest she can win the Republican nomination, let alone the presidency? Nixon lost two elections--one by a hair's breadth--and then rebuilt his standing in the Republican party by working his ass off to get Republicans elected in 1966. He didn't quit an office he held for no apparent reason. Yeah, after he resigned the presidency, he eventually built an image as an elder statesman, but 1) he actually had a record of accomplishment in high office, and 2) in the intervening years, he was a pariah who couldn't get elected dog catcher.

The only commonality in that is that Palin probably could fly around the country in 2010 giving red-meat speeches in Republican districts, but she could have done that if she'd stayed in office, too, and she wouldn't be a flake who up and quit her job for no reason. I don't even see how she retains her "folksy charm" intact. How does quitting her job help her reputation among her base? Fuck me, if that was actually the idea, why didn't she cite Trig or Bristol as the reason for resigning?

[FSTargetDrone]

How does quitting her job help her reputation among her base? Fuck me, if that was actually the idea, why didn't she cite Trig or Bristol as the reason for resigning?

Yes, quitting because of the Down Syndrome baby would make all the sense in the world. The baby requires a lot of attention, there may be health issues for the boy, etc. Instead, she gave us a nonsensical string of gibberish.

Imagine a situation where McCain and Palin won the presidential election. Do any of you think Palin might have bailed out of being VP in such a situation? If she quits this early into her only term as governor, I wouldn't put it past her to quit a hypothetical vice-presidency for all the "reasons" she gave on Friday.