Sarah Palin’s Resignation–Updated
July 3, 2009 / 4:54 pm • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierUnless you’re at the TeaParty and sweating in the sun, you’ve heard that Sarah Palin resigned good three weeks from now, from her post as Alaska Governor. Why? No one knows. Oh, there’s speculation. I myself wondered if it was because of health concerns. It could be as simple as she’s the Brangelina of politics and it’s a freaking circus. Getting anything done personally or professionally must be abject madness.
Erick Erickson says, without equivocation, “Sarah Palin will never run for elected office again.” I don’t know about that. Things are so maniacally crazy, that she may decide to start running for President right now. I mean, it looks like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are running, hell, Huckabee, too. The way the election cycles go, it’s non-stop now. She might be going home, regrouping and coming back.
Rick from Brutally Honest notes that Governor Palin has her enemies:
A hint as to why might come from the response to this event given by a friend of John McCain (and no friend of Sarah Palin):
“We’ve seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that,” said John Weaver, a longtime friend and confidant of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party’s presidential nominee in 2008 whose of selection of Palin catapulted the first-term Alaska governor to national prominence.
What an a-hole.
Yep, with “friends” like these. The Republican insiders want her ruined as badly as the Left does. Disgusting pit of vipers all.
Here’s the thing. I’m undecided about Sarah Palin, but her treatment at the DC Bubble elites, the Left and the Press has been so despicable, it’s impossible to get an accurate feel for how she would be as a national leader. And if she’s been hounded out of politics, I find this country in more lamentable shape that at first thought.
UPDATE:
The left is hoping for a scandal. And Allah is predictably pessimistic.
Jon Henke also says she’s done:
It’s hard to know what more to make of this until we get a much better explanation, but the view from here is that you won’t have Sarah Palin to kick around anymore. Her Presidential prospects are done, and it’s hard to see how Republicans will still consider her a potential leader of the movement.
But perhaps that’s best. Republicans need to stop looking for a Leader and start thinking about where they want to go.
It would be nice to have a big personality around. If she is out of politics period, this is NOT good for America or politics.
Updated again:
The Anchoress is covering everything.
Bill Kristol is deliciously contrarian:
After all, she’s freeing herself from the duties of the governorship. Now she can do her book, give speeches, travel the country and the world, campaign for others, meet people, get more educated on the issues – and without being criticized for neglecting her duties in Alaska. I suppose she’ll take a hit for leaving the governorship early – but how much of one? She’s probably accomplished most of what she was going to get done as governor, and is leaving a sympatico lieutenant governor in charge.
And haven’t conservatives been lamenting the lack of a national leader? Well, now she’ll try to be that. She may not succeed. Everything rests on her talents, and on her performance. She’ll be under intense and hostile scrutiny, and she’ll have to perform well.
I actually agree with him. It ain’t over ’til it’s over. It has to be a good reason for her to step down, though.
Do you get the feeling, though, that no matter the reason, she will be loathed, hated, lamented and maligned? This woman inspires such vitriol. It’s astonishing.
UPDATED AGAIN:
Joy McCann has a very thoughtful take at Pajamas Media. What if the reason she’s bowing out is for health reasons or some such? Joy says:
If that does in fact turn out to be the case, how will those who are burying her prematurely feel later on about their gleeful pronouncements that the governor’s national career is “over”? And how will they feel if they are right for the “wrong reasons,“ and Governor Palin has simply decided to stop fighting nuisance lawsuits and taking slams from the media and entertainment mainstream?
UPDATED AGAIN:
And the Left is it’s predictable, despicable self.
17 Responses to “Sarah Palin’s Resignation–Updated”
July 3 2009 / 7:46 pm
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Well, I have a jumble of thoughts on this–
1. I think the Anchoress and others who wonder about some additional reason (other than those stated today by Palin) could be right.
2. My first thought when I heard the news was: she’s got a book to write, that could be a huge hit and moneymaker for her, now she can really concentrate on it.
3. I’m with the Anchoress–if this is so she has more time for her family, more power to her!!
4. Let’s confound our liberal and leftist friends and family, and when they bring it up, smile knowingly and say “Ain’t it great?? If she wants to raise money for Republican causes she’ll have more time than ever!!!”
5. Isn’t it refreshing to have a politician do something unconventional? Aren’t we all sick TO DEATH of typical politicians and POLITICS AS USUAL? Isn’t the lesson of Obama’s first 7 months that he’s just more of the same-old, same-old: reward your donors, lie every chance you can get, break every campaign promise, etc. Now if someone could just get that obnoxious, old-style politician Mark Sanford to resign …
July 3 2009 / 8:37 pm
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There’s nothing good about this. Whatever news comes next is unlikely to be pleasant.
July 3 2009 / 8:40 pm
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Well, I was shocked by the news… everything I’ve heard doesn’t seem to lend to some scandal. I don’t remember who it was on Fox News, but they said they weren’t hearing any whispering from Alaska. Unlike S.C.
Illness of some sort does make sense, and I would understand why she’d want to keep that under wraps.
I think it could be when people started going after her kids that could have been the final straw. Perhaps her effectiveness was limited due to the ethics charges and she wanted to get out of the way of the agenda that Lt. Gov. Parnell can still push forward.
Erick Erickson doesn’t think she’s out of politics, but done with elected office – that could be. Maybe she never wanted to run for President? Who knows? It’ll be interesting what comes out of this.
I wish her the best, and am glad she’ll be able to spend more time with her kids.
July 3 2009 / 11:19 pm
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To say shocking is an understatement.
It is entirely possible that there’s something else going on. Who knows?
I’m operating under the assumption that there isn’t and I do not believe this is good news.
If this was done for personal reasons, such as writing a book, then more power to her. However…
To fire away at a couple of points made by JaneMarie:
“Let’s confound our liberal and leftist friends and family, and when they bring it up, smile knowingly and say “Ain’t it great?? If she wants to raise money for Republican causes she’ll have more time than ever!!!”
Perhaps, but there is a distinct difference between confounding your enemies and send a WTF??? message to potential swing voters. As for money, I’d personally rather see Palin on the frontlines as a viable candidate because as of now, there are none in the GOP. If she wants to raise money for a party that puts forward people like McCain, Romney and Huckabee, then we’re screwed. She won’t have much say as to where that money will go if she raises it for the party.
“Isn’t it refreshing to have a politician do something unconventional? Aren’t we all sick TO DEATH of typical politicians and POLITICS AS USUAL?”
As stated above, there is a distinct difference between doing something unconventional and doing something totally off the wall. Politics usually doesn’t reward oddball stunts. Also bear in mind that the Republicans don’t have massive amounts of media outlets to cover for their mistakes. They have to be smarter than the Democrats to compensate. Suddenly announcing that you’re just going to quit your post isn’t particularly reassuring. Hardly refreshing…
“Isn’t the lesson of Obama’s first 7 months that he’s just more of the same-old, same-old: reward your donors, lie every chance you can get, break every campaign promise, etc. Now if someone could just get that obnoxious, old-style politician Mark Sanford to resign …”
While I would agree that Sanford really needs to get the message to leave (as in yesterday), isn’t the Obama election pretty much the point? He has massive media backing (which essentially cleared out any of his indiscretions) and he didn’t do anything particularly stupid (no matter his leftist ideology). That and he had a message (however wrong it was/is) while the Republicans did not.
The closest comparative example that I can see to this is with Hillary running for Senate in NY, winning, and then suddenly quitting a year later to concentrate on her presidential run. I recall that didn’t turn out so great.
My opinion (and it’s just that, an opinion) is that Palin really hurt herself doing this, assuming that she has presidential aspirations. It is entirely possible that she’s had it with politics and I agree with Melissa that this has pretty bad implications. However…
She doesn’t sound like the type to simply cut and run. She jumped at the chance to be a VP (at a time when running with a clueless moderate probably wasn’t the right decision) and she is a state governor. Governors are generally a pretty good indicator of wanting to move higher up. In fact, this election was pretty unusual considering that most of the major candidates were all senators.
Right now, the GOP needs charisma and the only real candidate out there is Palin. It would be a shame if she loses credibility by pulling a flakey stunt.
July 3 2009 / 11:21 pm
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ummmmmm . . . spin this however you want – it’s crazy wackiness pure and simple.
A hastily scheduled press conference on the THIRD of JULY, punctuated with a bunch of rambling nonsense about not wanting to be a “lame duck” governor?
Something’s up. I’ll give it three days for the real story to surface . . .
July 4 2009 / 3:41 am
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For those of you who always want to suspect the worst or hope to see the worst, I suggest you go to Sarah’s blog and read her own statement. It is very revealing and quite interesting to say the least.
http://sarahpalinblog.typepad.com/
The Governor is and will always be a class act.
Papasnake
July 4 2009 / 5:19 am
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I do not accept the “quitter” and “can´t stand the heat” nonsense. Palin ís a normal person. She was brought close to financial ruin by fraudulent ethics complaints. She did not sign up for a constant campaign of vilification aimed at her family. Nobody does. Most politicians have a very easy ride. The kitchen isn´t nearly as hot for, say, the clown Al Franken or the corrupt Chris Dodd.
PS. That would be the same John Weaver who advised Gov. Huntsman and who worked against the Republicans while Bush was in the White House?
July 4 2009 / 8:27 am
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My initial thought was she was ‘going Galt’ politically. The next was to take her at her word that the expenses caused by the frivolous ethics complaints charges were too much for the state of AK and her family.
I’m inclined to believe that. It’s become too common in this day that all one has to do is to file lawsuit after lawsuit. Doesn’t matter if it’s justified or if it can be won, it still costs money and effort, and is a distraction.
I’m disapointed she quit, because it doesn’t look good on her record – too easy to say she’s a quitter, but I can hardly blame her given the dispicable treatment by the media, the democrats and the DC elites.
July 4 2009 / 10:03 am
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I can’t believe all the shallow, brain-dead drivel, I’m reading from the media, political “experts”, and too many so-called, conservatives. Knock off the self-pity, the drama…
Palin says she’s taking her game in a new direction, freed from local Alaskan politics, games of personal destruction, frivolous lawsuits, partisan squabbling. She will spend her time campaining for those like-minded candidates from any party, or, no party at all. Does a repub ever support a dem, or vice-versa? Would an independent doing something like this, make sense?
Anybody watch Glenn Beck, if you do, you know the theme of the show is focused and constant. Anybody, remember Ross Perot, “We the People” party; received 15% of the vote in ‘92? Do Tax Day, and now, July 4th, Tea Partys ring a bell with anyone? Its theme is focused and constant.
They say Palins announcement is abrupt, and shocking. And its timing idiotic! Before a holiday? How stupid. Nobody is paying attention! They’re celebrating!
The Tea Party movement is paying attention. The news media is paying attention; Sarah Palin blew away Michael Jackson coverage, North Korea missle testing. EVERYTHING! Even never-ending coverage of michelle obamas’ wonderful arms!
Sarah made her announcement, the day before Independence Day…anybody see a common thread running through all of this?
It appears Sarah is going to tap into the growing disgust people are having with repubs, dems, politicians, and IDIOCY, in general. I can’t wait to watch this in the months ahead. This woman is…incredible!
July 4 2009 / 3:27 pm
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el gordo,
Politics is often about perception. If I’m thinking about the “quitting” message, then you better believe that others are as well.
Republicans have to be smarter than Democrats. Better and more capable. They can’t afford to make mistakes because of the slanted media coverage. That’s just a fact of life. It sucks, but does one bitch about it or rise to the occasion? That should be the difference between us conservatives and numbnut leftists.
LEARNED,
It’s hardly drivel. Look at what I said to el gordo above. BTW, enough of the deification. Leave that nonsense to the left and Obama. I prefer a smart candidate. As far as the short term, who cares? There are no elections. However, in the long term, this will undoubtedly hurt her. It would have been better if she finished her term and tell the public that she would not seek re-election in order to concentrate on a national campaign. That would have given her a much more solid footing when she does run. Instead of a full term as governor (no mean achievement), she’s abruptly quit a little over halfway through her first term. That’s erratic, I don’t care what anyone says.
July 4 2009 / 6:39 pm
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I’m going to address this to Mat – only because it was the latest post to mention the term politics. One cannot dump Governor Palin into the pot we commonly refer to as Politics or Politicians. She is neither.
It is sad to note that in this melting pot we call America one has to be aligned with either the Democrats or the Republicans in order to be considered a viable threat to get elected to any “prominent” governmental position (most of the Independants/others – Lieberman. for example – switched from D/R after gaining prominence. I am reminded of a statement made to me by a State Representative, D, of (South Central) Louisiana when I remarked to him that he “should come out of the closet and declare his Party as Republican”. He responded: “I cannot get elected as a Republican in this part of South Louisiana”.
Governor Palin has strong moral, Christian, conservative convictions. She is not dictated to by an ideology of men (read Political Party). Politician should not be defined as an occupation; it should be listed as a vice.
My suggestion to all who wish to declare or speculate on who, what, where or why the LADY did what she chose to do: Sit back and enjoy the show. The Class in this Act will be very obvious to those who have eyes that see and a brain that functions.
Papasnake
July 4 2009 / 7:20 pm
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good grief. Ya want the same old politics with the same old corrupted to the hilt parties? Then don’t look at Palin. She is, obviously, a kind and decent person. honest. motivated. Motivated by good. And people from both sides tear her down, attack her kids, deride her looks. She inspires fear from the eastcoasters, the libs, the fascists, the repub insiders, the dem insiders. So they attack her. and attack her. For being a decent human being.
July 6 2009 / 11:13 am
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Loren,
“I’m going to address this to Mat – only because it was the latest post to mention the term politics. One cannot dump Governor Palin into the pot we commonly refer to as Politics or Politicians. She is neither.”
Oh please. She’s a politician like anyone else in government. To say otherwise is to put her on the same type of deified pedestal as the idiot Democrats do with Obama. It’s the “this person is going to save the country” attitude that completely slays me. The people will save the country; provided that they want to. We have an elected government (for now). If we want real leaders, then we need to vote for those people. The problem is that most people want a total bullshitter in the office to tell them what they want to hear, regardless of the reality.
“It is sad to note that in this melting pot we call America one has to be aligned with either the Democrats or the Republicans in order to be considered a viable threat to get elected to any “prominent” governmental position (most of the Independants/others – Lieberman. for example – switched from D/R after gaining prominence. I am reminded of a statement made to me by a State Representative, D, of (South Central) Louisiana when I remarked to him that he “should come out of the closet and declare his Party as Republican”. He responded: “I cannot get elected as a Republican in this part of South Louisiana”.”
Again, sad or otherwise, it is a reality this country works around a two-party system. That’s just the way our government was designed to operate around. We don’t have a parliamentarian system where you have gobs of parties jockeying for power (not that I’d want that system anyway). Pretending otherwise doesn’t really help the situation. As for melting pot, I think we’re steadily moving away from a “melting pot” to a thin soup occupied with gobs of oily “ethnicities” bumping into each other, but not really mixing. Like I said before, look at the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
“Governor Palin has strong moral, Christian, conservative convictions. She is not dictated to by an ideology of men (read Political Party). Politician should not be defined as an occupation; it should be listed as a vice.”
That’s fine that Palin has strong conservative convictions. As a conservative, it’s nice to see someone who practices what they preach. As I said before, if she wants to be elected to a major office, then she should be affiliated with either party. Now, the big question is whether conservatives should leave the Republican RINO party and form their own. I’m starting to lean in that direction.
“My suggestion to all who wish to declare or speculate on who, what, where or why the LADY did what she chose to do: Sit back and enjoy the show. The Class in this Act will be very obvious to those who have eyes that see and a brain that functions.”
Well obviously we’ll ave to sit back and watch. I just happen to think that it’ll be more of a train-wreck than anything else. I hope I’m wrong, because I see no other real viable conservative candidate for 2012.