While there has been a lot of speculation as to why former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is resigning as governor of Alaska with a year-and-a-half left in her term, remarks by Palin and her handlers show that she's unfit to run for president.
In making her bombshell announcement, Palin said she resigned because the tremendous pressure, time and financial burden of responding to ethics complaints had taken away from the job she wanted to do as governor. But as Barack Obama has pointed out, a president must be able to multi-task, compartmentalizing away such distractions and focusing on getting the job done. What was left unsaid by Palin was that the ethics complaints have damaged her moral standing. While she claimed the complaints had no merit, they led her to pay back taxes on state per diem funds she received while living at her home in Wasilla and $8,100 in travel expenses for her children.
Thomas Van Flein, Palin's personal lawyer, said that an off-color joke by talk show host David Letterman contributed to Palin's decision to resign. But politics can be a rough and tumble business. As public figures, politicians are subject to attacks by opponents and ridicule from comedians. A thick skin is required, and a president, living in a fishbowl, probably needs the thickest skin of all. A male politician citing such a joke in resigning from office would be laughed at as a wimp.
Much of the speculation is that Palin resigned to campaign full-time for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. But past experience shows the resignation to be unnecessary. Both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee declined to run for re-election to their gubernatorial posts in 2006, knowing that they had two years to campaign full-time, and both emerged as major contenders. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, on the other hand, were both elected president as sitting governors.
Despite her decision, Palin said, "I am not a quitter. I am a fighter." That remark simply insults the intelligence.
In choosing Palin as his running mate, Sen. John McCain showed poor judgment. In many ways, Palin is a female Dan Quayle, a shallow lightweight with a poor grasp of issues, chosen to appeal to the Christian Right base by a nominee distrusted by it. Quayle sought the presidential nomination in 2000 and fell flat on his face. Given her bizarre and erratic behavior, we can only hope that the same thing happens to Palin should she seek the nomination in 2012.
Comments
I didn't really think Palin would be that upset by David Letterman, but I guess when you look at it from her point of view, it's not really fair to her children if she attracts that kind of negative attention.
The time to step down would have been back when the older daughter was knocked up and needed a little privacy. The time to have stepped down would have been when the special needs child was a newborn and needed some peace and quiet at home with the family. The time to put the voters or her family first hasn’t happened with Sarah Palin yet and I doubt it ever will.
We need more politicians with her character. To hell with the issues until we can get the dishonesty out of the system. Someones got to clean up politics (both within the liberal and republican parties) so we can figure out what the real issues are.
"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen"
How can Palin ever be a VP, or god forbid a presidential candidate, if she can't even handle the pressure she's facing right now? Does she think it gets easier when she actually gets to the White House? I'm extremely glad to see her go. It's baffling enough to me that people were behind her in the first place. Very nice article, Dave.
At first I thought Palin quit. Then I started doing some homework.
She quit basically because the frivolous ethics complaints were almost shutting government down. Palin now is 100% national and can tackle challenges at the national level.
Her resignation showed courage, and it was honorable as it was clear that the left would not let her get anything done up there. She positioned Parnell quite well, and she has already accomplished all the major goals of her first term anyway.
Smart move, although short-term there will be some criticism.
If you've studied this woman's life, you immediately conclude this ain't no quitter.
Also, I've noticed that nobody seems to point out others in positions similar who resigned but were not criticised. Or, people like Napolitano and Sebelius and Huntsman who abandoned their states.
Palin is already recovering based on the polls.
Great gutsy move that will now pay off big time as she storms the lower 48.
What Sapwolf fails to mention is the sitting Governors he mentioned left office to fulfill a call from the President.
History shows a precedent for this, republican and democrat. What history will also show is in the lifetime of our tremendous country, only 2 other governors have up and quit.
Palin asked people to trust her and elect her for four years. No matter why she quit, those who elected her deserve the truth.
We are behind you Sarah. The Liberal media means nothing to intelligent individuals.
Governor Huckabee did not decline to run again in 2006. He was term limited out, having been governor for 10 1/2 years. Huckabee finished out the term of Governor Tucker, who was forced to resign, and then was elected twice on his own. Governor Romney did decline to run for a second term, for which he was eligible.
I guess when the going gets tough, a Maverick quits ?
"...the Liberal media..." this and "...confused Conservatives..." that. Grow up. What we need more than ANY of the suggestions here is for people to stop attacking each other's views and spend ten minutes actually dealing with issues.
Sarah closed out her career by speaking of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous quote, “We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.”
Although, in her typical respect for historical accuracy, it was actually Major General Oliver Prince Smith that uttered the famous line. But, for Sarah and her likeminded teabaggers, that’s close enough.
Let's face it, we're talking about an individual who got most of her undergraduate credits at a community college. She exhibits behavior suggestive of a histrionic or borderline personality disorder. She stands for nothing but her own aggrandizement. It is laughable that she blames "liberals" for the fact that she has to spend so much time dealing with her ethics violations. Let me repeat: Sarah Palin considers herself a victim because she's being held accountable for her breaches in Ethics. The fact is that Sarah Palin is unfit for office. By mis-appropriating funds, she effectively stole from the state and people who elected her. Yet she possesses not the slightest guile or remorse or responsibility for her actions. She blames "liberals."
Seems to be a bit of confusion about who actually said the quote - could have been Smith - but has been attributed to McArthur numurous times.
Fact is - we don't really know and never will - unless someone who was there can come forward and give us the real skinny - yeah, didn't think so.
Period. (That's just the dem's way of saying this is fact - period). LOL
Jay and Dan...shame on you both. Why does everyone fear this woman and her honesty so? I hope since she has stepped out of the limelight for the moment that people in Washington will have time to actually read what they vote on. Soon they will not be giving farewell speeches, they will just be gone..Thank Heaven...How can people not see what is happening...socialism, government run everything...I love Freedom, it used to be synonymous with America. Let's don't fight, let's ban together as a Country> How much we need one another right now...
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