Executive experience, nevertheless. In terms of the skills required, running a small business (city) isn't appreciably different from running a large business (city). The CEO of a large business (city) has more help, that's all.
As a group, Wasillans don't seem to be unhappy with the bond issue that got them a convention center, either. Isn't that what successful big cities do, too -- invest in their future?
Getting elected Governor was an impressive achievement. She beat two well seasoned Alaska politicians who had been around the block. I’ll give her credit for that.
Credit for her political skills? But you make no mention of what she accomplished in her two years in office. She was, in reality, the most accomplished executive on either ticket in 2008.
But then she quit that same office after too many people in Juneau and the national media criticized her. The fire got hot and she ran out of the kitchen.
I'll avoid calling that assessment what it is, but you and I have a totally different reading of her motivations. Her stated reasons made perfectly good sense. And she put herself in the same position Ronald Reagan occupied in 1976-80 -- a private citizen who could comment freely and help elect fellow Republicans.
She's not running from anybody.
The difference is Reagan was out of office because his term ended in 1975. Reagan served his two terms in California. He took a hell of a lot of heat in Sacramento too. He fought through all of it. He was battle tested. He then did the ultimate act of proving toughness by taking on Gerald Ford in the 1976 primaries and almost winning them.
So don’t even try to compare her stepping down to Ronald Reagan because Ronald Wilson Reagan never backed down from anything.