[Norman Bates]

This is the most plausible answer I've heard thus far:

"Here is why I think Palin quit: she wants to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012. No surprise there, she currently has more support than any other contender in the polls. But she has a serious problem. Her rivals for the nomination are beginning to make the circuit of Republican and conservative grass-roots groups. They are able to criss-cross the country, building up support, establishing campaign committees, speaking to Republican groups on an informal basis, supporting other Republican candidates, laying the foundation for a 2012 run.

Palin, on the other hand, is isolated in Anchorage. It takes longer to get to and from Alaska than most people realize. Palin can't zip into Chicago, deliver a speech to a Republican conference and be back in her office in time to sign a bill. If she starts spending 75 percent of her time in the lower 48, she might in fact be able to carry out her gubernatorial duties via Blackberry, but she would be crucified for abandoning the state of Alaska in favor of her national ambitions. So she resigned, in order to free up her time to campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination.

That is, I think, the only explanation that fits the facts. I still think Palin's resignation was a mistake; it will make the logistics of campaigning much easier, but her failure to complete the only major government job to which she has been elected will haunt her."

[OldDeckHand]

"That is, I think, the only explanation that fits the facts. I still think Palin's resignation was a mistake; it will make the logistics of campaigning much easier, but her failure to complete the only major government job to which she has been elected will haunt her."

And for that simple observation, well rooted in logic, Hindraker will be labeled a Romneybot, Milquetoast Republican, RINO or other some such nonsense, as we've already seen.

When in fact, Hindraker has been a movement conservative his entire public life. He's an attorney's attorney and one of the best litigators in the country. But, because he's an Ivy League educated professional, who can link a couple sentences together that might even include a few polysyllabic words, he's really just elitist intellectual scum in the mind's of many. It's very disturbing for the future of the conservative movement that such criticism exists. But, it is what it is.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Norman, you realize Hindraker contradicts himself with that, right? He criticizes Palin for not completing the job, yet says that Palin is isolated in Anchorage (BTW, it’s Juneau).

[techno]

In life there are always tradeoffs.

Ask yourself if you knew you had a good chance of being the GOP Presidential nominee in 2012 based on the latest CNN poll and Rasmussen poll that showed you in a dead heat with Romney and Huckabee but you knew your comparable opponents had a distinct advantage on you because quite simply that they were engaged or active in the lower 48 in pursuing a Presidential bid and you were without really campaigning actively were still in a dead heat, and coupled with that under siege by local anklebiters who threatened to bankrupt you, would you say to yourself I’ve got to extricate myself from my difficulties and get my body down to the lower 48 ASAP; yes I’m going to take a hit about resigning but if I don’t resign I’ll take a hit that I cannot recover from which is being behind the 8 ball in getting my organization in place and laying the foundation for a Presidential run.

[Impy]

I find the ever earlier start to the Presidential race annoying.

2012 started before Obama even won, as it was clear that he would. Or even months before that on the part of Mitt Romney.