Sarah Palin said she is resigning from her office as Governor of Alaska - at the end of the month. Speculation is raising that she can now focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.What a surprise! Not the Republican governor who I thought would be making this announcement - South Carolina had that one in the bag...
When Palin said she was quitting, she didn't elaborate on her future.
"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a statement.
"It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, 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," she said.
Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the end of the month. Her term would have ended in 2010.
Okay, now, the last thing you do is give up your power to go campaigning. Obama got his Senate seat sat in it for about a half a minute, then hit the campaign trail. He didn't quit. Neither did McCain. He's still got his job. So does John Kerry and Joe Lieberman (much to the chagrin of their constituents.)
My initial thought is that she isn't running - she's hiding. She is attempting to get herself and her family out of the punchline spotlight that she is in. Why else would a governor leave their job? Infidelity - nope, unless it's with a hooker. Gross incompetence? No, Grey Davis had to be recalled. Gross corruption? No, Blago had to get impeached by a room full of jokers just as corrupt as him... but he got nailed by the Feds. Health issues? No, there are two Democratic Senators that aren't even able to make roll call - let alone vote. I'm sure we can all think some more *(feel free to educate us in the comments bar)
If she IS running for President - well, we can always point at her and call her a quitter.
By not running for re-election, Palin liberates herself from the political constraints that come with running for president while still in elected office.
ReplyDeleteLeaving office at the end of next year, the former vice presidential hopeful will be able to travel the country more freely without facing the sort of repeated ethics inquiries she’s been fending off since returning to Alaska earlier this year.
A holiday news dump announcement is very hinky. Scandal to come? youbetcha!
ReplyDeleteAlmost certainly a scandal or at least very damaging info was dug up on her.
ReplyDeleteI've seen a few suggestions that she's freeing up time to start campaigning for 2012. That's ridiculous. People resign positions after they've been elected to a higher office, not years before. It's pretty much expected that you will complete your term if you're elected to an important position and only leave if you get a better position or there's a scandal.
She sent an email to friends and family blathering about the wonderful birth of Trig, and signed it "your heavenly father and creator".
ReplyDeleteLet me repeat that, she wrote an email about the birth of her retarded kid as God in the first person.
Her resignation may be the result of a soon to break scandal involving the building of a sports complex while she was Mayor of Wasilla.
ReplyDeleteIt is rumored that federal indictments are pending involving construction projects in Wasilla dating back to 2002. The indictments may involve corruption and embezzlement.