Posted on 07/04/2009 9:56:45 PM PDT by Libloather
Sarah Palin: 'Time-out or flame-out?'
The governor's resignation is an act of either liberation or self-destruction.
Posted July 4, 2009 7:45 AM
by Mark Silva
Sarah Palin's stunning declaration of independence from "politics as usual,'' standing up for her "beloved state of Alaska'' while standing down as governor 18 months before the end of her first term, has been interpreted variously as a bold venture into a new realm of political leadership or as an irreversible, destructive act of political self-immolation.
"Being right is better than being popular,'' Palin declared with characteristic defiance, standing by the dock of her lakeside home in the tiny town where she got her start as mayor and announcing that she will hand over the governor's office to Alaska's lieutenant governor by month's end.
Ed Rollins, a Republican consultant who traces his work to Ronald Reagan's heyday, has offered a blunt assessment of what Palin has done to herself: "It makes her look flaky, which is one of the dilemmas she's had to face all the way through this.'' He raises the question, too, of what's the "next shoe to drop'' in the Palin story.
Palin's supporters say the former mayor of Wasilla who represented her party on a presidential ticket, a self-styled political pitbull, has simply reinforced her credentials as a maverick.
"Time out or flame out?'' one of our newspapers is asking today. Our own Mark Z. Barabak writes of the governor's "disjointed and cryptic remarks'' explaining how, by quitting the office that she won in 2006 after failing at a campaign for the vice presidency in 2008 and being held out by many in her party as a prospect for 2012, she hopes to "effect positive change outside government.''
(Excerpt) Read more at swamppolitics.com ...
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney notes that...
They're freakin' out! Keep up the good work!
They are crapping in their pants out of fear of her; The Pols and the LSMs.
Well now the Cuda is loose and she has very sharp teeth.
“Being right is better than being popular”
What a true statesman believes.
What if she really is done seeking elected office? Oh how the statists in the Republican and Democratic Parties would be floored with the lack of ambitiousness from another politician/wonk. In the statist’s world-view, no one is supposed to relinquish power...rather they’re supposed to crave it and seek even more of it until those pesky term limits get in the way! No- power hungry behaviors just baffle the statists, I’m sure of it.
Didn’t Obama “quit” and not finish his office? ( 1st term senate seat )
Seems some people have selective perception.
You’re absolutely right about that. And he lied about running for president, too. Second nature for BO.
I admire Palin. She has a family to think about. They come first.
The liberal press will be saying this, even while Sarah deplanes from Marine One on the White House lawn, to the strains of "Hail to The Chief".
They're so juvenile, it's embarrassing.
Cross a cat and a phoenix and the result would not have as many lives as the Saracuda.
No rest at all...lets win Congress back. Get busy and do your part. The country needs you, just like it does each of us. Get off your duff and Go for it!
Stop bashing other conservatives and promote your own choice with as much vigor as you choose to attack another.
And then again - who are you to say - eh?
She spnt more time as Governor than 0bama did as Senator.
And he spent most of that time campaining for President and voting “present”!
Get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning, and we'll still be talking about her when you wake. 8^)
Years? Obama may be shown to have forged several documents along the way as a government employee. It’s grounds for termination, and if he knowingly misrepresented his qualifications to run for President, he’s guilty of treason. Obama most likely is a man who lied his way into several government jobs.
On every application, it states, if you misrepresent yourself, they have the right to fire you years later if you misrepresented your background and qualifications. If Obama can lie, steal fake his way into the Whitehouse, surely a Modern Day Patriot such as Sarah Palin can become President Palin. Obama has too many lies which will continue to be exposed on a daily basis.
“Ed Rollins, a Republican consultant who traces his work to Ronald Reagan’s heyday, has offered a blunt assessment of what Palin has done to herself: “It makes her look flaky...”
Only to you beltway slugs; not to real people.
Ed, it's called "taking control."
LMAO,,,,,,,,,,WHO????????????
Sara has left, so now the Lt Gov, Sean Parnell, is the new (or will soon be) Gov.
Alaska's constitutional framers left to the Legislature the task of penciling in the line of succession for the top executive posts and determining when the top office can been deemed vacant by absence or disability. The Legislature in 1959 set the mechanism for succession, but has yet to address the vacancy determination issue, which may come back to haunt us someday (like say, now).
Lawmakers decided the best thing was to allow governors — back then, they wanted the strongest chief executive possible — to “appoint, from among the officers who head the principal departments of the state government or otherwise, a person to succeed to the office of lieutenant governor if the office of lieutenant governor becomes vacant.” (What exactly, do you think, does “or otherwise” mean? Could it allow a governor to select from outside the Cabinet?) The appointment requires a majority confirmation vote of a joint session of the Legislature and the appointee serves at the “pleasure of the governor.”
The new Lt Gov (required) is not the Chief of the Dept of Corrections as is current law - new Lt Gov will be the Commander, Alaska Nat’l Guard - Major General Craig Campbell.
A very good choice. But another odd twist.
Why? The current head of the Dept of Corrections is an old time Palin chum. He declined the job, no doubt knowing he would be the center of another firestorm of accusations of cronyism within the State Governors offices.
Rollins was a Perot guy who gave us Clinton.
“Rollins was a Perot guy who gave us Clinton.”
How surprising to see him bad-mouthing our ‘Cuda. /sarcasm
It is dishonest to compare Reagan with Palin.
Reagan was a proven fighter, lots of achievements, politically smart and knows how to handle the media, before aiming for the Presidency. Palin does’nt even come close to it.
Good you mentioned that. I was thinking the same thing when reading
criticism over Palin's move.
Even here on FR.
The "More perfect then thou" F-n attitude is wearing thin.
The RINO's are pathetic.
“Palin does’nt even come close to it.”
So, you are unaware that the ‘Cuda took on the Republican good-old-boy network in AK and kicked their butts?
Most importantly, she shares Reagan’s most important attribute: character.
It's true, Ronald Reagan was deeper and wider when he began his 1980 run than Sarah Palin is; he was also 30 years her senior, give or take.
She does need help, unselfish help, and she won't get it from the RiNO's and wannabe-squirearchs of the GOP establishment. Which includes remoras like Ed Rollins.
My own prescription for her has been an early trip, very early, to go visit Lady Thatcher and spend a week over there, visiting a couple of hours (at most) per day, as Lady Thatcher's health and comfort permit.
what are you blabbering about.
Maybe she did, but anyway Reagan and Palin are poles apart even they both have good character.
By the Left, RINO's, those who want the nod in 2012 such as the Huckster and that phony, Romney, and the Establishment Republican Party!
One would think if their assessment is correct, they would be doing back-flips and high-fiving?
Thus, IF they no longer have Sarah to worry about, why is there SO MUCH coverage and opinions by soooo many talking heads and 90% of the comments, dismissive, derisive and delusional ?
THIS simply goes to PROVE they continue to FEAR her and worry that she will become an even bigger force to contend with!
The liberal establishment must really be proud of itself;
The lady owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, has quit the Alaska governorship.
They must be saying “Mission Accomplished” behind closed doors. (If they said it in the open, they would betray themselves as the partisan, duplicitous hacks that they are.)
IMHO
We need someone like Sarah who isn't afraid to tell it like it is....Go Sarah, go...we're behind you all the way.
I like it very much that Sarah's lawyers are letting it be known that she is going to sue those who defame her....It's about time.
I really don’t believe the left is scared of Palin. I’m sorry , I like her but she is NOT the one who will gain this country back for us. We need an almost historical figure to get us out of this mess. She is not electable as POUS.
Sad to say I agree and many don’t see that . She’s a good woman and a good conservative but really not the “one” who will lead us back to power. Actually I don’t see ANYONE on our side who has a chance right now.
There are various ways of interpreting this, given the vacuum of information, so I don’t really care how it comes down.
She’s either out or she’s in.
I don't believe he officially "quit", he just wasn't there to do his job...kinda like "no show, no call"
My Rx? She should stay home with her family and read Margaret Thatcher's books instead.
She’s either out or she’s in.
There it is in a nut shell.
Either way, she can be a great asset for the conservative movement, raising money for conservative candidates around the country. And since she'll be a private citizen, she can fight back against the Democrats, media and Republican elites who all seem to be working together to bring her down.
Even if she isn't a candidate in 2012, she will definitely be a strong voice for "conservative values America"!
She is a strong, conservative voice.
Let me add that the lady has guts.
She decides what she wants to decide. I remain a fan but not a sycophant.
She is a good role model for women, parents and mothers, IMO.
Struggling through it all, with a disabled child and seeing a daughter through a teen pregnancy, and still doing a great job at work.
Seems to me that she's a good example of the average, hard working American woman.
Lord knows, I've got my hands full with just 2 kids!
She’s has a difficult time, but I believe she prays for guidance. My guess is that this is a decision backed by guidance from above.
from the Wikipedia article about Rollins:
“...in early 1968 he worked for Kennedy as a campus coordinator, then later as a paid operative for his primary campaign in Northern California.
After graduating, Rollins served briefly as an assistant to the President at Chico State, then in Sacramento as a state budget analyst. After the 1968 election and the GOP takeover of the California Assembly, he was hired by Republican Assemblyman Ray Johnson as his Chief of Staff, despite his prior service under the Democrats. [3] Later, he left California for Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. From 1969 to 1972, Rollins served assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, also teaching political science and public administration. There, he personally witnessed violent student protests, including the burning of an ROTC building.
“In the summer of 1972, Rollins was hired by Robert T. Monagan, former speaker of the California Assembly, to work as a paid operative for the California campaign to re-elect President Richard Nixon. This gave Rollins his first close contact with Governor Ronald Reagan, who chaired Nixon’s California campaign, and Lyn Nofziger, who ran the West Coast Nixon political operation. It was at this time that “blue-collar Democrat” Rollins made his permanent switch to the GOP.[4]”
It is interesting to me that the article traces his way back to Reagan, but not back to Kennedy or Nixon and how he left the Dem party after seeing the protesters and working for Republicans.
It also REFUTES your contention that Rollins was a Perot guy. He was NOT a Bush’41 guy for sure, as the article pointed out. (He resigned from a $1,000,000/yr contract due to Bush’41.) In addition, he RESIGNED from the Perot campaign midway through when realized that Perot was emotionally unsuited to the presidency. I TOO resigned from the Perot campaign about that same part of the campaign for the same reason, and then went to work for Bush, which Rollins would not do because he believed that Bush’41 was NOT conservative enough.
Perot and Bush’41 were the guys who gave us the ‘Toon, not Rollins.
I didn’t contend that he was a Perot guy.
“Maybe she did, but anyway Reagan and Palin are poles apart even they both have good character.”
Seems to me that you’re underestimating the importance and centrality of character. If they share that, there’s no way they can get “poles apart.”
They can be stellar opposites in personality , ambition etc but still share good character.
“They can be stellar opposites in personality , ambition etc but still share good character.”
I don’t know why you cling so to that proposition.
Good character presupposes the absence of overweening ambition, and the ‘Cuda’s personality is pretty similar to that of Ronaldus Magnus.
I dont share the same opinion. l
Looking at Palin I dont see that she has the same personality as Reagan , atleast from her record so far.
“Looking at Palin I dont see that she has the same personality as Reagan, at least from her record so far.”
I wonder where you got your information on her record so far, because to me they look very similar.
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