The Palin Resignation
By The Pajama Pundit | Related entries in NewsSince I was out last week, I didn’t get a chance to weigh-in on the political hot-button story of the week (month?): Governor Sarah Palin’s seemingly inexplicable resignation from office. Whilst sitting on the sand, soaking up the sun and sipping my Sam Adam’s Summer Ale (how’s that for some alliteration for you?), I had plenty of time to absorb this story and contemplate possible reasons for Ms. Palin to do this, as well as the inevitable outcomes of this decision. Here is what I have come up with:
… uh …
I got nothing.
Oh sure, Governor Palin says that she’s stepping aside for the ‘good of Alaska’, but I don’t buy it (and neither do lots of other Americans).
No, it seems fairly clear to me that Governor Palin has some ulterior motive for transferring the powers of her office to the Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell.
The idea that Governor Palin is stepping aside for the better of her state is indeed a noble one. The problem that I have with it’s legitimacy is not that it is a bad idea; rather, I feel that Sarah Palin enjoys the spotlight too much to let something like concern for her state get in the way. That may sound somewhat callow of me, but based on what I saw during the election last year, Governor Palin seems to soak up the limelight as if she were a solar panel converted to store energy from media cameras rather than that of the Sun.
The big buzz with so many other pundits and prognosticators is that Sarah Palin will surely be launching a campaign for the Republican nomination for President in 2012. While I do not doubt her potential aspirations for such an undertaking, I believe that this is simply a terrible idea. Let’s look at the most basic fact in this hypothetical primary:
Sarah Palin served two-and-a-half years out of her four-year-term as Governor of Alaska. She ran, unsuccessfully, as the running-mate with John McCain in his bid for the presidency. She has been dogged by allegations, fairly or unfairly, of ethics violations in the short time that she has been in the Governor’s office.
Mitt Romney served his full term as Governor of Massachusetts. Mike Huckabee served his full term as Governor of Arkansas. Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal will likely serve their full terms as Governors of Minnesota and Louisiana, respectively.
Setting aside the other issues (ethics and losing VP), Sarah Palin will get buried on this one fact alone: She appears to be a quitter.
Now, I know that she says that she is ‘not a quitter‘ — and that is all well and good. However, elections are not necessarily about what you say; elections tend to be about the perceptions that the voters have of each candidate. So, at a Republican debate when Romney and Huckabee are blasting Sarah Palin for ‘walking out’ on her state (when they finished the job they were elected to do), Joe Sixpack will likely say to himself, ‘Yeah, what gives? Why did she quit on her state?’
To me, there is not chance that Sarah Palin would get the GOP’s nomination for President in 2012. [although my good friend B-Diddy has been theorizing that she could make a major comeback in 2016 or 2020 -- I suppose that only time will tell]
In the end, my guess is that Governor Palin sees more of an opportunity for success (i.e. making lots of money) within the Chattering Class. I would guess that there are book deals and cable news outlets clambering for her to give insight and commentary (however bland it might be) to increase sales and boost ratings. The gross irony here is that, ever since she burst onto the national political stage last fall, Sarah Palin has done little else than to bash the ‘elite media’ and claim unfair bias towards her. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant. The point is that Palin would (could) be going to work for that unfair, unjust mainstream media that she so often rails against.
What do you think? Will Governor Palin get her own talk-show on Fox News (a la Mike Huckabee)? Or will she simply fade into political obscurity?
[cross-posted at ThePajamaPundit.com]
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Now, I know that she says that she is ‘not a quitter‘ — and that is all well and good.
And Nixon said he was not a crook, and Clinton said he never had sex with that woman. She’s a quitter, and she’ll never get away from that. She renounced elective office for good when she quit mid-term, whether she meant to or not.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Tully:
Yep.
My favorite part is her statement that she would help Alaska by leaving the governor’s office early. I look forward to her helping America by never getting near the White House.