GOP takes another hit?

[Lindsey]

Wow, I sure didn't see this coming:

In Big Shocker, Palin Resigns As Governor (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/in-big-shocker-palin-resigns-as-governor.php?ref=fpa)

There's speculation that this is to prepare for a 2012 run for president, but it doesn't seem to me that failing to finish your one and only term in statewide office does much to enhance your presidential resume. And isn't it just a teensie bit early to be starting an active campaign for the nomination? Granted, I'm sure there is plenty of groundwork that has to be laid years in advance, but politicians don't normally resign from office to do that.

[Lindsey]

Several commenters to the story on the NYT web site have made speculations similar to this one, which I think sounds quite plausible:

My theory: What with state revenues down, governing is a whole lot more difficult than recent years when funds were gushing into state treasuries (especially in Alaska when the price of oil was skyrocketing). She was happy to take credit when she could hand out money but she wants no part of having to deal with budget shorfalls and, heaven forfend, a tax increase.

And, of course, it is worth remembering that she served on some sort of governmental commission prior to her run for governor. She was appointed to it as a consolation prize after a failed run for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor; she never did much on it, and some insiders say she quickly became bored with it and wanted out, and found a way to do it that worked in her favor: she accused at least two fellow commissioners, one of whom had been her mentor and was chairman of the state GOP, of ethics violations. And then rode the publicity from that into the governor's office.

So maybe once again she is being crazy like a fox.

[Mike]

So maybe once again she is being crazy like a fox.
Uhhh... funny you say that...

Newser (http://www.newser.com/) reports that she will be working for Faux Fox news (http://www.newser.com/story/63504/palins-next-stop-and-paycheck-fox-news.html):

Sarah Palin resigned because Fox News “dangled Oprah-type money plus the promise of a 24/7 platform from which she can energize the base for a few years,” blogger Ruth Ann Harnisch guesses—and that visibility would be a great move if she wants to be president. “She can have a full-time promotional machine at Fox,” Harnisch writes, “paid for by others, without having to make a single fundraising call.”

[sidney]

and that visibility would be a great move if she wants to be president.

Or maybe after what will probably be a failed bid for President she would rather be left rich and famous instead of merely well off and famous. A sitting Governor can only skim extort earn so much.

It doesn't seem credible to me that being a TV personality (news anchor or commentator or talk show host or whatever) is a reasonable platform for becoming President. The closest that we've ever come to that was Ronald Reagan going from acting and being president of the Actor's Guild, to radio political commentator, to Governor of a large state, to President. That makes sense as a sequence of steps. There is no precedent to indicate that it works if you take just two of the steps and take them in the wrong direction.

[Dan in Saint Louis]

she accused at least two fellow commissioners, one of whom had been her mentor and was chairman of the state GOP, of ethics violations.
And one of the reasons given for her resignation (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/) was the constant investigations of HER. Maybe they are getting too close...

[Judy G. Russell]

Wow, I sure didn't see this coming: In Big Shocker, Palin Resigns As Governor (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/in-big-shocker-palin-resigns-as-governor.php?ref=fpa)I didn't see it coming either, and frankly think if she thinks this is the way to clear the decks for a Presidential bid then she's even stupider than I thought. And I thought she was plenty stupid.

[Lindsey]

And one of the reasons given for her resignation (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/) was the constant investigations of HER. Maybe they are getting too close...

Now that I've thought about it a little more, that's the only kind of thing seems consistent with the haste with which this apparently was done. As Josh Marshall at TPM pointed out, she didn't even have time to put together a coherent cover story.

(By the way, Gail Collins has a wonderful deconstruction of her announcement speech here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/opinion/04collins.html?_r=1).)

I checked in at the Mudflats blog, which was a prime source for Palin-ology last fall, and which I hadn't been back to since the election. They had a pointer to a Brad Blog post (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7280) which is saying this:

Okay, I've now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to the building of Palin's house and the Wasilla Sports Complex built during her tenure as Mayor. Both structures, it is said, feature the "same windows, same wood, same products." Federal investigators have been looking into this for some time, and indictments could be imminent, according to the Alaska sources.

The BRAD BLOG has not been able to receive confirm from any federal sources on this. Our information comes from local Alaskans who follow Palin, and who have been keeping an eye on this for some time, while keeping it quiet at the request of federal investigators.

This is shaping up to be an interesting summer!

[Lindsey]

I didn't see it coming either, and frankly think if she thinks this is the way to clear the decks for a Presidential bid then she's even stupider than I thought. And I thought she was plenty stupid.

That's part of what seemed so bizarre. How does it make a case for your fitness for the most important elected office in the country (and one of the most important elected offices in the world) to quit little more than midway through your first term in the only significant political office you have ever held? Whatever your reasons for quitting, just the fact that you quit would seem to me to be a significant barrier to going on to more important offices.

One wag commenting on the article on the NYT website said, "Does this mean she is cutting and running?" She who lives by the political slogan...:D

[Mike]

It doesn't seem credible to me that being a TV personality ... is a reasonable platform for becoming President.
Totally agreed. I think Oprah would have a better shot, even without having had another office!

[sidney]

They had a pointer to a Brad Blog post (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7280) which is saying this

"Housegate" does sound plausible, though it is the kind of story that could just be a groundless rumor and we won't know unless and until it breaks.

However, after reading through some 80 comments on fivethirtyeight.com with different people speculating about myriad possible reasons, until they all kind of blur together, I have come up with one of my own.

Sarah Palin is pregnant again, with Governor Sanford's love child. She can't claim that Todd is the father because he is just about to escape prison through a grant of immunity for testifying against her in the Federal indictment that is about to be announced. Todd is ready to insist on a DNA test for paternity if necessary.

But Sarah Palin will no longer be Governor when the news breaks, so it won't make the national media.

[Judy G. Russell]

Whatever your reasons for quitting, just the fact that you quit would seem to me to be a significant barrier to going on to more important offices.Exactly. Which is why you and Dan may be on to something -- she's just such a target right now...

[Lindsey]

However, after reading through some 80 comments on fivethirtyeight.com with different people speculating about myriad possible reasons, until they all kind of blur together, I have come up with one of my own.


LOL! Yeah, that pretty well sums up the speculation! It doesn't help that Palin herself seemed to give a different reason for resigning with every breath she took (and she took a lot of gasping breaths, like she was having a panic attack or something).

[Lindsey]

Exactly. Which is why you and Dan may be on to something -- she's just such a target right now...

TPM is now pointing to a new statement (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/2009/07/sarah-palins-4th-of-july-message.php?ref=fpblg) "explaining her...decision" which doesn't seem to me to explain anything at all, just keeps saying that she had already shared her reasons.

But TPM also says (without linking to a source) that her attorney has sent out a letter denying that the resignation has anything to do with investigations of the construction of the sports complex, and threatening defamation suits against a number of entities (Shannyn Moore, the Alaska blogger who I think was Brad Blog's source; the Huffington Post; the Washington Post; the New York Times; and MSNBC) for even discussing the possibility. The Second Amendment is sacred; the First, not so much, I guess.

I'd like to know when MSNBC was ever discussing anything about Palin's resignation; whenever I turned it on the last couple of days, it was nonstop discussion of Michael Jackson.

[ktinkel]

I'd like to know when MSNBC was ever discussing anything about Palin's resignation; whenever I turned it on the last couple of days, it was nonstop discussion of Michael Jackson.Olbermann and Maddow were off Friday. I had this niggling feeling that avoiding the likes of them might have influenced the timing of Palin’s announcement! There wasn’t even a peep about it on Gwen Ifill’s “Washington Week” Friday night; wonder when that tapes?

Didn’t listen to Chris Matthews at 7, if he was even on.

[Dodi Schultz]

There's speculation all over the blogosphere, mostly focusing on the possibility of an imminent indictment or at least a major ethical embarrassment. Uh, make that *another* ethical embarrassment.

Personally, I like Sidney's theory that she's preggers again. OR, that one of the daughters is. (Thinking about the recent Letterman hassle...)

Some say she hopes to become super-rich from the book she's supposedly going to "write." But I read somewhere or other that she doesn't actually have a contract yet.

If I were on the RNC, I think I would be contemplating commissioning a little kneecap rearrangement. Or, wait, I take that back; she'd only get sympathy.

--DS

[MollyM/CA]

And one of the reasons given for her resignation (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/) was the constant investigations of HER. Maybe they are getting too close...

We can but hope...

[Lindsey]

Olbermann and Maddow were off Friday. I had this niggling feeling that avoiding the likes of them might have influenced the timing of Palin’s announcement! There wasn’t even a peep about it on Gwen Ifill’s “Washington Week” Friday night; wonder when that tapes?

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe that was what was behind what really looks like rushed timing -- somebody suddenly realized that Michael Jackson's death + major holiday weekend added up to an opportunity to "take out the trash," as they say in DC, that would probably not come again for another generation.

Didn’t listen to Chris Matthews at 7, if he was even on.

I rarely get home before 9 pm, so I never see Chris Matthews. Keith Olbermann was finally back on last night, but at 11 pm, they were back with the MJ coverage instead of the regular repeat of Rachel Maddow's show, so I don't know if Rachel Maddow was on last night or not; I wasn't able to check at 9:00.

[Lindsey]

Some say she hopes to become super-rich from the book she's supposedly going to "write." But I read somewhere or other that she doesn't actually have a contract yet.

Pity her poor editor! The text of last Friday's has been cleaned up a little since it was first posted on her web site, but it still looks like something from a C-average high school kid. Paul Begala's commentary (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/sarah-palin-turns-pro_b_225633.html) on it was brutal. My favorite part of what he had to say:

The text, as posted on Gov. Palin's official website (here (http://gov.state.ak.us/)), uses 2,549 words and 18 exclamation points. Lincoln freed the slaves with 719 words and nary an exclamation; Mr. Jefferson declared our independence in 1,322 words and, again, no exclamation points. Nixon resigned the presidency in 1,796 words -- still no exclamation points.

[Mike]

Her editor probably was another C-average high school chum.

[Mike]

Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IzNPEGWNos)

[Lindsey]

Her editor probably was another C-average high school chum.

That is entirely possible! Josh Marshall's revised take on Sarah Palin's sudden resignation (he had initially thought there almost had to be a scandal about to break):

As I think a number of others have said, I've always thought Palin's character was essentially that of a grifter. And when these folks blow out of town after a con has run its course, it's usually a pretty hasty exit.

[Judy G. Russell]

Hitler Finds Out Sarah Palin Resigns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IzNPEGWNos)ROFL!!!!!!!