Saying she is taking her fight “in a new direction,” Sarah Palin announced yesterday that she will resign as governor of Alaska and will not seek a second term. At a press conference outside her home in Wasilla, Palin said she will leave office at the end of this month. And while she did not discuss specific future plans, she said that she was “determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and it is not so comfortable.”
Palin, who was elected to the Governor’s office in 2006, and who shot to national recognition upon landing on the Republican ticket as John McCain’s running mate last year, said that it was possible to be more effective outside of governance.
“My choice is to take a stand and affect change, not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new political environment. Rather, we know we can affect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities – so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.”
In a speech that relied heavily upon criticisms of the time and money being expended in state government, Palin said she had given her reasons “very candidly, truthfully,” though actually she gave little in the way of concrete reasons for her departure, and did not take any questions.
“I really don’t want to disappoint anyone with this announcement, not with the decision that I have made,” she said. “All I can ask is that you trust me with this decision and know that it is no more politics-as-usual, and some Alaskans it seems maybe they don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time, but I do. I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor. I don’t know if my children are going to allow it anyway.”
“The timing and astonishing nature of Palin’s announcement will naturally lead people to assume that there is more to the governor’s decision to resign than she has let on, and there might well be,” said CBSNews.com producer Scott Conroy, who covered Palin’s vice presidential campaign last year.
“But in the months since the Republican defeat in November, the Alaska governor has shown time and again a high level of frustration with the baggage that has come with becoming such a high-profile governor and national celebrity,” Conroy said. “Many of Palin’s former political allies in Alaska have turned on her, and the near-constant barrage of criticism has clearly weighed on the former vice presidential candidate, as her demeanor during the emotional press conference at her lakefront home in Wasilla attests.”
Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin’s political action committee SarahPAC, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, with an uptick in funds after Palin’s announcement.
The announcement caught even current and former Palin advisers by surprise. Former members of the John McCain campaign team, now dispersed across the country, traded perplexed e-mails and phone calls.
{CBS News-Politics/Matzav.com Newscenter}
she is resinging because ever since she came back she has had nothing but strife and infighting. it is better for her to stop now because it can only get uglier and that can end up hurting her when she runs for president. so by stepping down now, there will be no more building up of ill will for people to have against when she starts her presidential campaign next year.
too bad she hasnt figured out yet that the country knows what a dummy and a loser she really is.