Anyone who watched/heard her speech knows that she is not leaving politics.
Mitchell is engaging in wishful thinking.
Palin can now raise money and take the gloves off and go after her critics in a way that a sitting Governor can’t.
Mark Levin agrees with you, and so do I.
Sarah needed to do this. Per her statement, she and her staff have consumed 80% of their time and effort fighting off scurrilous attacks from the left in recent months.
How could she even do her job as Governor, in that sort of war? Answer: she couldn't, and that was an ongoing dis-service to the Alaskan people.
The timing was awful, but she wasn't allowed to pick the timing, because of the never-ending onslaught of attacks against her. She made the move she needed to make, so that she could reposition herself to serve her fellow Americans from a position of strength.
It's a tactical move that Sun Tzu would be proud of. She is now free to attack her enemies in fabian style. Now you see her, now you don't. She's now unchained from the easily targeted position of the Governorship.
She can now move from defense to offense, and begin building her base for 2012. It's brilliant.