Sarah Palin stepping down as Governor

She'll be considered a quitter by most people and won't be a threat in 2012. People will call her Sarah Perot.

 

Maybe she wanted to walk the Appalachian trail?

All kidding aside, there has to be a reason and 2012 doesn't make any sense to me (for disclosure I like Palin and would have much preferred it to be Palin/McCain)

 

I suspect the goal is cashing in on her fame and/or avoiding an incipient scandal. Whatever the reason, this is good news for the GOP, even if lots of 'em won't recognize it as such.

And the right wing echo chamber is playing the 'evil media' card. Awesome.

 

It is possible I don't know something but I think this is a bad move for her and had she (not that she would, does, or even knows me) asked me what I thought I would have advised against it.

I wonder if she feels she needs to build facetime in the mainland USA, but staying governor for the rest of your term wouldn't hurt that overall.

 

So I watched her speech. Wtf? No, really, wtf? You don't get to talk about quitters and the easy way out and assert that you're not going to take the path of least resistance immediately before mentioning that you're resigning from office.

Seriously.

"I've given my reasons now. Candidly and truthfully." What the hell? No you haven't. The only thing you've implied is that frivolous allegations of ethics violations were preventing you from doing your job. Which, no, I don't believe you.

Anyway, yeah, the speech is pretty weird. Transcript here (note that the candid and truthful speech is about 'not seeking a second term', rather than, say, resigning).

Now I almost wish McCain had won, just so we could see whatever scandal emerges occur in the office of the Vice President, rather than the, uh, office of the former governor of Alaska.

 

Good riddance. Politically, she's probably damaged goods now. All the better as I find her still scary and ridiculous at the same time.

If this is about scandal, I wonder if it has to do with the various ethics charges levelled against her in Alaska. I read that they have been both extensive and expensive.

 

Politically, I don't see it making much sense. Scandals will come out if she tries to run in 2012 anyway. But remember, politics isn't everything.

 

It actually makes perfect sense, if you have values & beliefs that you truly follow.
She has acknowledged that the crap her enemies are flinging at her is damaging her ability to do the job that alaska elected her to do, so she is stepping down for the good of the state.
I don't expect most liberals to understand this mindset as they mostly have "it's all about me" type mentalities.
It also makes sense if she is determined to put all of her resources into a run at president in 2012, as anyone who is honest with themselves knows that running for president is a full time job. It would be dishonest to stay in an elected position when there is no way you are going to be able to do both with the attention that is needed.

I'm also reminded of the things said about reagan in '78 when he decided to run for president. The main thrust was "he's a joke" & "there is no way he can get the endorsement".
Now, i'm not saying that palin is another reagan, just that the lame stream media's response is similar.

 

As for filling the office during an election campaign, that's true, but she could just not run in 2010. As for not doing the job effectively, I doubt any replacement will be able to get up to speed before 2010.

 

"Liberal" mentalities? Guess again.

He's only made himself and his state the biggest laughing-stock on the planet.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31694081/ns/politics-more_politics/

 

She's stepping down, likely to avoid a huge scandal. That means she's no dummy. She must know that stepping down now will doom her for the Presidency. Swing voters will not likely vote for someone who quit a term right in the middle of the term for reasons that are at best nebulous. I think she must know that.

I don't know how altruistic this is of her, but I also don't think it's as venal and selfish as others are trying to portray it. The bottom line is that she wanted to spare her family any further embarrassment. Most people would do the same (the idiot Chandos mentioned is obviously an exception to this rule). The fact that Alaska now gets a Governor who is not distracted by all sorts of crap is a happy by-product.

Bottom line, this is the end of her as a serious political entity. She'll be in the news for years to come, but she'll just be an oddity.

 

Hah! As an outside, who has no invested interest in US politics (and if he did, would probably class myself as an independent), it's been a while since I've read such utter nonsense. I hope you are aware of how laughable that statement is and that you just said it to get a reaction, as the alternative (that you actually believe it) is a scary though. 90% or more of both sides are in there for one thing before all others - themselves. And hey, if they help the country who helping their ego, all the better. Even if they start out with the purest of intentions, but how long does that really last? Power corrupts, and all that jazz.

To imply that the GOP candidates are all pure and good while the Liberals are all in it for themselves is nonsense. It's that kind of comments that really give politics a bad name.

Sorry for that off-topic spiel... could not resist biting that bait. The thing I find surprising about this whole thing (there might be a perfectly good reason that I'm unaware of) is why she only gave just over 3 weeks notice. Surely it takes longer than that to have a smooth transfer - or is there something significant about the 26th of July?

 

I'm pretty sure he meant liberals, full stop, not liberal politicians. Evidently the folks who want universal healthcare are breathtakingly selfish. Who knew?

 

Yep i meant liberals period F'n dot. Now liberal politicians, i would say feed'em to the sharks but i don't dislike sharks that much.
And no rotku, a lot of politicians, on both sides, have the "it's all about me" mentality but i would put it at 95-98% for liberals & 50-75% for conservatives.

It's real simple for me(very black & white if you will). If i had the chance to save 10 Million liberals or 5 conservatives, lets just say the coffin makers would be real happy.

 

Wow. Remind me never to meet you in a dark alley.

 

I really doubt it. The way I see it, the most benign explanation for her act is that she can not ... well, I'd say "handle the responsibilities," but she doesn't quite say that. Then again, what else? She was elected to be the representative of the people of Alaska, and her deciding to quite before her mandate is up is either her deciding that governing is not worth her time or that she can't do it well enough under the circumstances. The second option - while speaking much better of her character - still means she is unfit to be a politician.

Oh yeah, quitting so that it's not "another dose of politics as usual" was a good one. She wanted to be a politician. She was elected to be one. If she wants to change the way the game is played, she is in the perfect place from where to do so right now. What she is doing now is quitting from the helm of Alaska, the position which the people of the state trusted her with, and that means she should be looking for a career change. She basically states she can't stand the heat, so she gets out of the kitchen - and before her dish is done, if you would pardon me extending the culinary metaphor. This may be a morally right decision on a personal basis, but if she decides to go for a political career on the national level it would be a bad joke. The talk about "doing the right thing for Alaska" only makes sense if she thinks that the best thing for Alaska is a new governor - or is speaking... ok, I won't finish that one. She just decided that, as governor, she's bailing out on the people of Alaska, as well as her own political party - that's about as good a way to put yourself permanently out of politics as any.

Now, I'm not much of a fan of Mrs. Palin, but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt - it is definitely possible that she means what she says and is not plotting some elaborate political scheme her. She said her two highest priorities are her faith and her family, so maybe she thinks the ethics scandals will do enough to make life miserable for her children and wants to protect them somewhat. I can agree with that, somewhat. I don't really think that's all that likely - she brought her family for a VP bid, and I doubt an ethics investigation can be that much worse - but I definitely can't rule it out.

At any rate, as long as she stays out of politics, I could care less. But if she has the nerve to try anything on the national level after that, I hope she gets her just and sour deserts.

 

That's exactly right, Shaman. And I'm going to +rep you because of that comment. "IF" she runs for higher office, then she has just basically told the people of state of Alaska that she doesn't give a flip about them, and that this is all about HER ambitions for higher office, that the state was just basically nothing more than a stepping stone for those ambitions, and they were currently holding her back politically, given her national status.

However, if she doesn't run for higher office, then she is more than likely protecting her family and herself - and the state as well - from all the poltical heat that's surrounding her at the moment. And for that, you cannot fault her - in fact it's commendable. If she sits out 2012 then she is a hero; if she runs in 2012, then she nothing more than another poltical turd - and real smelly one at that.

 

Shaman, I get the feeling from your wording that you're giving her anything but the benefit of the doubt, but your logic is appropriate. Only time will tell if there's anything more to this story.

 

I've been watching this unfold since the announcement, really thinking it over - puzzling as it is. I've concluded that I really don't think there's a scandal about to surface. I don't think for a minute she's stepping down out of concern for her family. And I definitely don't think this has anything to do with the media attention she receives, since she invites so much of it on herself.

I really think, by some magical wingnut logic that makes sense only to her, she thinks this is a brilliant career move. The "mavericky" thing to do. I think she's going to spend the next two years positioning herself as "the face of the GOP." She'll campaign for people. She'll attend every party function she can. She'll try her hand at TV punditry (exclusively in softball venues like Fox News and talk radio). She'll still put herself forward as a candidate - either for the Alaska Senate seat next year or for President in 2012. She may even lobby to usurp Michael Steele as GOP Chairman, which considering Steele's popularity, wouldn't be too hard for her to arrange. IMO, the last thing she's going to do is "retire" from public life. I'll put money on it right now. I hope for her family's sake and the sake of the GoP that I'm wrong.

The one positive thing in all this is that now Alaskans may actually get a governer that is serious about governing the state of Alaska. Even the Republicans in the Alaska legislature can't stand her.