Easy. There are two kinds of Lame Ducks.
One is a person who has less than half their term remaining and is about to embark upon a re-election bid (1.5 to 2 years in the current political lexicon). Sarah was there.
The other is a pol who either lost their party majority in the relevant congress and can, as a result, no longer effect their policies, or an Executive who has already accomplished all of their goals and campaign promises, and has nothing left to finish. Sarah was also there.
I think you're letting your animus cloud your logic.
8^|
So, if I'm understanding this right, about a year and a half into her first term (when she became McCain's running mate) she had already accomplished everything the voters elected her to office to do?
I'm impressed. If she's that efficient, she can probably resign from the presidency in just a couple of years, once she gets the US budget at a surplus situation instead of these deficits we have now.