From what I was reading at the time, I doubted that she would run from Arizona, because McCaine and his group were against her from the time she was picked as his running mate. I don't think that they really knew her, nor understood her; let alone just HOW much people would favor her and yet, still hate him! That stuck in his craw and then there was that B*TCH on wheels...Nicole Wallace, who already had a BAD rep when he picked her to use for "helping" Sarah.
The harassment, abuse, and vilification of Sarah and her entire family, sadly has NEVER stopped! So I imagine that running for anything, today, would be not just difficult, but IMPOSSIBLE to win and then there is the fact that she has an 11 year old with Downs. He will reach puberty soon and that is a difficult time for normal kids to go through and often worse for a Downs kid. She's needed at home!
-PJ
I won't speculate about what it means, other than I suspect that the marriage had hit a wall as far as Todd was concerned, and he had decided to go his own way. This happens after three decades of concerted tumult and change. In addition, Todd and Sarah may have had some deep disagreements over their future together. So he pulled the plug on the marriage.
As to whether there was another man or woman involved, no one can say right now. The fact that none of the gossip sites seem to be reporting anything of that nature seems to indicate that something else broke that marriage up. Todd always seemed to me like a stand-up guy who valued the marriage, as did Governor Palin.
Only a month ago they were in Sturgis, SD, on a biker rally that had become and annual pilgrimage for both of them, and their marriage seemed quite stable. Shortly thereafter, he made the decision to go forward with the divorce. I suspect that this had been brewing for some time, and may have been mutually agreed on between the two of them.
As to what it portends politically for the Governor, we don't know. Palin is now single, and free from potential charges of cheating on her husband. These charges would have come at her any time she had decided to reenter elective politics, not only from the Democrats, but from Republican operatives allied with the Bush Family, Romney and others in the Beltway GOP. But she may have decided to return to politics and Todd may have decided that that wasn't for him.