Palin resigns. Seriously.

Wow (6.00 / 1)

I can't wait to hear why.

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by: JimC @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 15:34:04 PM CDT

Isn't she up for re-election in 2010? (0.00 / 0)

Most Governors are.  If the presidency is her goal why not simply decline to seek re-election?

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by: Christopher @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 15:49:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Too many trips (0.00 / 0)

Kept going to Argentina to meet some mysterious, suave American businessman on state business....

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Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

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by: sabutai @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:04:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Argentina? (0.00 / 0)

She actually opened her remarks with a crack about lame-duck governors who head out on foreign-trade missions on the taxpayers' dime.

The whole thing was simply incoherent, a collection of nonsequiters. Vintage Sarah, if you can stomach that sort of thing unmediated by Tina Fey.

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by: Trickle up @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 17:04:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I saw it (0.00 / 0)

The woman clearly doesn't know what a lame-duck is.

~~~~
Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

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by: sabutai @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 18:10:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

She's actually in... (6.00 / 2)

... a tough bind.  If she stays governor, she can possibly build her resume some more.  But if she does the traveling necessary to run while holding office, she'll be lambasted in her own state as an absentee.  The correct choice for here would have been to get reelected and vie for 1216.  I wonder if she had serious doubts about reelection or her ability to actually accomplish much for Alaska (limiting the usefulness of the office for building her resume).

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 15:55:42 PM CDT

She would be in step with the times, at least (0.00 / 0)

if she ran for the 1216 nomination.

More seriously, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell says her sources have Palin leaving politics entirely.  Perhaps we won't have her to kick around anymore -- in Nixon's case "any more" amounted to six years.

I actually thought during the 2008 campaign that she would not finish her term as governor because she'd be impeached -- I figured the extra scrutiny from the nomination would uncover something actually criminal.  Of course we don't know whether there's more news coming.  Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, perhaps?

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by: DaveMB @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:04:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Though in fairness (0.00 / 0)

That's what Romney did...

~~~~
Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

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by: sabutai @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:05:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The absenteeism... (0.00 / 0)

... would be much harsher for any governor of Alaska because of geography.

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:11:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes. Let's be fair. (0.00 / 0)

She has little in common with Romney. And why are so many posters here so suspicious of her?  I like attractive and balsy women!

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by: Edgarthearmenian @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:12:58 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I can't speak for anyone else (6.00 / 5)

but I am not suspicious of Palin, I know what she is and I don't like it.

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by: RegularJoe @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 17:00:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not so tough (5.00 / 1)

Her term ends in 2010 anyway, giving her plenty of time to travel in 2011 to campaign for 2012.  All she'd have had to do was decide not to run for re-election as Governor in 2010 - and if she's not running for re-election then complaints of absenteeism wouldn't be as prominent anyway.  If Lt. Gov Sean Parnell were running to replace her, leaving him in charge more often while she's away could even be seen as a good thing for her to do.

There's gotta be some other reason.

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by: Cos @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 16:48:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Agree... (6.00 / 2)

... this is getting suspicious.  Her husband's AIP ties have been in the news recently.  I wonder if someone has found another shoe to drop.  Admittedly idle speculation.

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 17:01:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

there is probably something else going on (0.00 / 0)

Can she possibly think this decision will help her in 2012?  If you can't take the heat from bloggers and David Letterman (supposedly part of the reason she's resigning) how are you going to face up to foreign threats?  This is all very strange.  

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by: Austie77 @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 17:30:28 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm confused (0.00 / 0)

That was incoherent even for her. Throw some metaphors in a blender and see what comes out. Interesting timing, probably the slowest news day in the whole Summer. (nice to see Sun in Alaska, can't wait for it to get here.)

I didn't hear a real reason for quitting, other than she didn't want to be a lame duck governor traveling around on the taxpayer dime. Huh? (Pull a Mitt and travel around on donors dimes)

Possible reasons:

1. Big new job down this way. Faux News?
2. Run for President 3 years from now
3. Tired of politics/wants to protect family from liberal bloggers
4. Just doesn't want to be Governor of Alaska anymore
5. Scandal/indictment coming

Anything else?

I'm betting on 1, 4, or 5. I don't see any reason to quit now to run for Prez when your term's up in 2010. And people were a lot meaner to her and her family LAST year. The new Vanity Fair article wasn't that bad. Her base would probably love it; if they, like, would actually read something called Vanity Fair.

I don't see this as a brilliant political move.

Regardless. Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!

Democrats protest war. Republicans protest healthcare.  

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by: MedfieldBlueBob @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 18:38:17 PM CDT

2010 Midterm Elections (5.00 / 1)

I disagree with waiting for 2016 for Governor Palin. The Republican base loves Palin and 2016 is too long to wait. She needs to cash her popularity chips while she's still popular and before she loses that popularity or someone new comes in and becomes more popular.

Second, Palin could use the time off to travel across the country to campaign during the 2010 Congressional mid-term elections. Campaigning during the 2010 elections, it will be practice for the 2012 election and it will garner many IOUs too.

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by: FallRiverGuy @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 18:50:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

That's my point (0.00 / 0)

Why quit NOW if you're running in 2012. You're not running yourself in 2010, so go campaign for everybody else. Then you've still got 2 years to campaign for 2012. It's what Mitt did, and she's way more popular with the Republican base than he will ever be. Bugging out early get you what?

This was too hurried, too incoherent, and too weird to be a political move. It felt like she decided this morning to do this.

Course this could be one of those mavericky things she learned from McCain. Sorta like suspending your campaign to save the country, or not taking stimulus money to save Alaskan's freedoms.

Happy 4th! Especially now.

Democrats protest war. Republicans protest healthcare.  

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by: MedfieldBlueBob @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:18:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

When to announce? (0.00 / 0)

If Gov. Palin was not going to seek re-election in 2010, when do you think it would have been appropriate to make that announcement?

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by: FallRiverGuy @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:47:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

way too broad (0.00 / 0)

"She needs to cash her popularity chips while she's still popular" with a very, very small subset of the country. For everyone else, she's about as popular as Dick Cheney.  

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My thoughts are mine and mine alone. They should not be considered representative of any other organization, group or person - save me.

~Ryan.

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by: Ryepower12 @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:06:43 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Actually,... (5.00 / 1)

... if she can land a highly visible punditry sort of position somewhere and milk it for years before she gets in real campaign mode, it might arguably be better for cultivating more fans than anything she could do in Alaska.  More to the point, much of what she might do to cultivate more fans while allegedly governing in Alaska could compromise her popularity and effectiveness in Alaska anyway, effectively undercutting her efforts.  Isn't trying to stay relevant in punditocracy exactly what Hukabee is doing?  

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:06:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Staying relevent in the punditocracy. (0.00 / 0)

The risk for anyone wanting to go from candidate, to pundit, and back again, is that in the process of staying relevant you have to continually give your opinion on all sorts of topics and it helps to be edgy.  Any time you aren't knowledgeable, or become too edgy, or otherwise make a fool of yourself, it's all on camera.  When you go back to being a candidate you may as well tie a bow to your your lesser tv moments and mail it to the opposition.

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by: Patrick @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:25:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

True enough... (0.00 / 0)

..., if this is the plan it isn't without risks.  It still might be workable.  Especially if you (mistakenly) bought into the 'stoke the base' strategy to electoral victory that the GOP has employed.

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:56:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

the first instinct (6.00 / 2)

is usually the correct one. The other shoe will drop soon. Just you wait ;)

(If they lied to the FBI about the AIP during the background checks, that would just be delicious -- and if it's AIP related, that could explain why McCain's camp released all those emails last week, to distance themselves, suggesting she was willing to lie about it, while they weren't.)

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My thoughts are mine and mine alone. They should not be considered representative of any other organization, group or person - save me.

~Ryan.

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by: Ryepower12 @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:18:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Maybe Obama is about to appoint her to a major position? (0.00 / 0)

In the interest of bipartisanship.

That might account for why she seemed so flustered.

Now, what might that position be?

BMG: Reality-based commentary.

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by: Bob Neer @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 19:58:38 PM CDT

Bob - wardrobe? (6.00 / 1)

Y'know, rental clothing for traveling members of the administration?

Deborah Sirotkin Butler
AmberPaw dot @aol.com

"Failure to plan is planning to fail."
Proverb

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by: AmberPaw @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:26:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Who cares? n/t (6.00 / 1)

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by: Farnkoff @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:23:09 PM CDT

Thank you Farnkoff (0.00 / 0)

The show's over....goodnight and Happy 4th!

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by: HeartlandDem @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:44:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hmm... (0.00 / 0)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

looks like a winner to me.  

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My thoughts are mine and mine alone. They should not be considered representative of any other organization, group or person - save me.

~Ryan.

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by: Ryepower12 @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 20:44:48 PM CDT

From the folks who brought you "Trig is her daughter's baby?" (0.00 / 0)

That link is to someone who says that someone else says that a third person has a theory.

BMG: Reality-based commentary.

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by: Bob Neer @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 23:30:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Link hopping (6.00 / 1)

If you click long enough — and hopefully your mouse remains functional! — you eventually end up at Huffington Post article from an Alaskan journalist.

The sports complex and the Palin house construction have always been suspicious. It seems plausible to me that she or Todd is facing an indictment on this score.

That said, I think we're trying to learn Monday's news on Saturday. Better to wait than speculate. Curiosity, be still!

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by: KBusch @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 11:32:59 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

That familiar feeling. (6.00 / 1)

Corruption probe.

Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd steered lucrative contracts to the well-connected company in exchange for gifts like the construction of their home on pristine Lake Lucille in 2002. The home was built just two months before Palin began campaigning for governor, a job which would have provided her enhanced power to grant building contracts in the wide-open state.

Would explain the incoherent babbling... deer caught in headlights.

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 21:16:59 PM CDT

That's more like it (0.00 / 0)

Ryan, Mr. Lynne's link will no doubt interest you :-)

BMG: Reality-based commentary.

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by: Bob Neer @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 22:39:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

i'm confused (5.00 / 1)

aside that you may like the link better... it's basically the same theory. a house (super duper allegedly) was built in exchange for lucrative contracts. some of the details were different in the separate links, but same gist.

And that's all we've got right now. It's all idle speculation. We're no better than people at the water cooler. The only difference is we're posting our comments online. It's a bigger water cooler.

I've long since said that the blogosphere is just a series of conversations. Yes, it's the sharing of news and facts, but those news and facts are made as we write (and read) it. I don't think the people who initially asked "what if?" about Palin's baby are any different, better or worse from us.  

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My thoughts are mine and mine alone. They should not be considered representative of any other organization, group or person - save me.

~Ryan.

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by: Ryepower12 @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 00:53:38 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Palin (0.00 / 0)

When the going gets tough.  Quit.

Listening to Charlie Baker talk about fiscal responsibility is like getting lectured on abstinence from Paris Hilton - Tim Murray

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by: johnk @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 21:18:47 PM CDT

Stick a fork in her she's done (6.00 / 1)

I agree with the other commenters that something is about to break.

I can think of no reason to drop a bombshell like this on a Friday afternoon before a July 4th holiday except to get out of something with as little damage as possible. Her comments appear to be unscripted, the entire thing has been pulled together at the last moment, and the timing of the announcement seems calculated (if that's the word) to either (a) minimize the exposure of the announcement, or (b) try to "get ahead" of some other story.

Stick a fork in her, she's done.

"If the Republicans will stop lying about the Democrats, the Democrats will stop telling the truth about the Republicans" -- Adlai Stevenson

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by: BrooklineTom @ Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 23:10:56 PM CDT

I always wonder (5.00 / 1)

How do you know she's done if you haven't stuck a fork in her yet? And if you do know she's done, why bother sticking her?


Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 06:48:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

*lol* (0.00 / 0)

Stay out of my kitchen next Thanksgiving ... lol

"If the Republicans will stop lying about the Democrats, the Democrats will stop telling the truth about the Republicans" -- Adlai Stevenson

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by: BrooklineTom @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 08:46:26 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Maybe she's got (6.00 / 2)

one of those little pop-up things that tells you . . .

Shoe bomber, underwear bomber -- why aren't we waging war on clothes?

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by: kirth @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 11:05:48 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Dropping Like Flies (0.00 / 0)

The 2012 GOPers are dropping like flies. I guess that leaves us with Romney by default.

Their only electable candidate-Hunstman, was taken by Obama. Guiliani is running either for Gov or Sen in NY so he can't run, leaving us with the Huckster who will likely prefer to be on TV, and the Mittster barring a Jeb Bush comeback.

Luckily the base doesn't trust Mitt so we won't have to deal with him vs Obama. While in theory Mitt should be easy to beat, I worry that if the economy is still bad in 2012 he could morph back into CEO/Manager mode while toning down his conservative rhetoric and look like that years pragmatic centrist. On the other hand to win the GOP nomination he has to appeal to all the crazies.

Seriously that party has marginalized itself into a corner and lacking any coherent strategy to appeal to minorities, voters in cities, or independents I cannot see it leaving the electoral wilderness for quite sometime. And unlike the 12 year period of the Reagan-Bush administration when at least the Dems always had Congress, the Republicans have nothing.

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by: jconway @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 09:23:50 AM CDT

Huckabee has... (0.00 / 0)

... plenty of time to be on TV for a while and run later.  

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult." - Seneca (5 BC - 65 AD)

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by: Mr Lynne @ Mon Jul 06, 2009 at 09:50:12 AM CDT

[ Parent ]