GOP critical of Sarah Palin for quitting as governor of Alaska

July 6, 10:30 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerKaren Harper

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AP Photo/Runner's World, Brian Adams

Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush administration, said of Sarah Palin's announcement she was stepping down as governor,

It is not clear what her strategy is here.

A Fox news commentator said he had no idea what she (the governor) was talking about, or where she was going with her speech.

Republican conservative columnist George Will said of Palin's speech,

I've read it once and seen it twice and I still have no idea why she did this.

Republican strategist, Tim Griffin, a Bush advisor, said,

...She does have broad appeal to a lot of rank and file Republicans, but I want to make it very clear...I am part of the rank and file.  I live in Little Rock, Arkansas and what I want is, I want leaders within the Republican party to do well and to take steps that make sense and I simply don't think that quitting in the middle of her term as governor, makes sense.

Mike Huckabee called her decision to quit "a risky strategy" if she is planning to stay in politics with an eye toward running for president in 2012.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke of Palin's decision to step down as governor of Alaska, saying that Palin had "decided to abandon the state."

Governor Palin's announcement came in the form of a rambling and incoherent speech. 

Palin had some 18 months left in office.  She had lost some battles in the governor's office in Alaska and faced more battles.  She refused stimulus money for her state that would have helped residents with energy bills and it was widely assumed she would be over-ridden by the state legislature.

Nobody has a definitive reason why Palin has decided to quit as governor.  Many people believe she quit in order to focus on a run for the GOP nomination for president but some of her fiercest defenders contend that the governor quit because the media has been too hard on her.  Ironically, Governor Palin criticized Hillary Clinton for being too sensitive to media criticism as you will see in this video: