Free Republic

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's abrupt and unscripted holiday resignation is an odd way to launch a potential presidential bid and certainly no help for a party battered by scandal and fighting for relevancy. From a folksy figure who catapulted from obscure governor to conservative darling and vice presidential nominee, it's merely the latest move in a political drama that has left Republican elders scratching their heads. --snip-- "If this is her launching pad for 2012, it's a curious move," said John Weaver, a former senior strategist for McCain's presidential bids. "Policy is politics, and she has no real accomplishments as...

There have been a number of seminal queries which our elders used to define game-changing moments in America’s cultural evolution. Where were you when JFK was shot? Where were you when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon? For me, although it will likely wind up as a Trivial Pursuit bonus round question, one of the treasured turning points may well be: Where were you when Sarah Palin decided to commit political suicide? The odd thing is that I was up in the mountains, forcing myself into a period of decompression from the political theater. I likely wouldn’t have even...

"Palin is running for president, get used to it."

Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska is a brilliant liberating move for her career, and a potential turning point for the national conservative movement. The biggest problem with her responsibility as Governor of Alaska is that the state is so far away from the rest of America. No one hears of the good work she has been doing there, and the left is free to paint their own false caricature of her. ... I am hoping she spends two weeks of every month now touring the states doing fundraisers for a the sweeping Republican revival in 2010 that is...

CNN and other major news outlets have reported that Sarah Palin has abruptly resigned as governor of Alaska. The suddenness of her announcement raises the question about whether Palin resigned to avert a major scandal. One logical place to start looking is the affair that has Alaska political circles buzzing: an alleged scandal centered around a building contractor, Spenard Building Supplies, with close ties to Palin and her husband, Todd. Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd...

Rather than a blow to a career, Sarah Palin's decision to resign underlines her self-awareness, writes The Daily Beast's John Batchelor. She is now unmatched for the 2012 primary. The early excuse for the Republican circular firing squad of the holiday weekend is that Weekly Standard editor and party brainiac Bill Kristol claims that pugnacious McCain campaign enforcer Steve Schmidt has been caught gossiping to Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum about Sarah Palin’s rambling and incoherent vice-presidential campaign last September and October...

"What (Palin) had, more than anything else, was a toughness and a dedication to her position. She blew all that with her announcement today." One of the things that Palin had going for her was that she was, as Cindy McCain described her during the Republican National Convention, a "hockey-mommin' ... basketball shootin' ... moose huntin' ... fly-fishin' ... pistol-packing ... mother of five." She had been nicknamed "Sarah Barracuda," and took on the "good ole' boys" who controlled Alaska politics. However, to all but her most loyal supporters, today's bizarre press conference made her look brittle -- like a...

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 15) -- Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) electrified Washington today, resigning from the Senate to campaign full time for the White House (256K WAV sound). "I announce that I will forego the privileges not only of the office of the majority leader but of the United States Senate itself, from which I resign effective on or before June 11th," a choked-up Dole told a Capitol Hill news conference, flanked by Republican lawmakers and a few Democrats. "And I will then stand before you without office or authority, a private citizen, a Kansan, an American, just a man." ......

~snip~ Palin ended 2008 with a striking run of personal successes in high-profile popularity polls. According to a poll by Gallup she was the second most admired woman of the year, after Hillary Clinton. Time magazine chose her as the world’s fourth most influential person, behind Barack Obama, Henry Paulson of the US Treasury and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Last week she triumphed in an annual poll, commissioned by a property website, as the person Americans would most like to have as their neighbour. She finished ahead of Oprah Winfrey, the television chat show queen, and Michael Phelps, the...

With respect to many of the Palinologists below, I think they're getting way too hepatomantic over the entrails. As a political move for anything other than the 2010 Senate race, today's announcement is a disaster. And I'm not sure it's a plus for the Senate - and, even if it were, the manner and timing suggest it was not a professionally planned event and therefore is unlikely to have any grand strategy behind it. So Occam's Razor leaves us with: Who needs this? In states far from the national spotlight, politics still attracts normal people. You're a mayor or a...

Ever notice? When she’s angry, she starts talking a little faster, her eyes lids narrow a tad, and she talks through lips that are a bit closer together – and that faint frown of hers becomes almost permanent, yet a smile remains. She displayed all of those signs today. She didn’t say it in so many words, but if I don’t miss my bet, Sarah Palin just declared all-out war on the left – and believe me, she can wage that war like no other – as has been well demonstrated. No, she’s not about to run off into seclusion...

Palin 2012. Hypothetical narrative. If this is what she runs on — and does it well — then watch the hell out: I’m Sarah Palin, and I’m running to be Citizen-In-Chief. I entered politics to change something. I ran to serve my state, the great state of Alaska, and then for the vice-presidency because I care about this country. I saw first-hand the viciousness and pettiness that have made Americans fed up with politicians, politics as usual, and the destructive personal attacks that also go on far too often. Those sorts of things that public service should never be about....

July 03, 2009 Sarah Palin breaks the mold again By Thomas Lifson. At this point there is much speculation about why Sarah Palin abruptly announced her impending resignation from Alaska's governorship. Her critics are already calling her "erratic" but she is consistent in one respect: she cares little for the established ways of doing things when she thinks she has a better course of action. The conventional wisdom holds that you bury news when it is announced at 4 PM on Friday of a holiday weekend. But the comparative news vacuum seems to be only amplifying the echoes reverberating through...

Sarah Palin can be the Republican nominee in 2012. I am not saying she will be, but she can be... 1. DUMP ALASKA. She doesn’t need to run for reelection for governor in 2010 for name recognition or to get media attention. And being a governor these days is like having a target on your back... Maybe you can see Russia from Alaska, but you can’t see Iowa and New Hampshire from Alaska. Alaska is too far away from where she needs to be. She can live, skimobile and hunt moose in Alaska, but she needs to spend a lot...

Here is video of GOP Strategist Ed Rollins giving his assessment of Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign as Governor of Alaska. Rollins calls the timing of her resignation announcement "suspicious," referring to it coming on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, and because she is not finishing out her term. He does not believe this is any way to start a campaign for President. (Watch Video)

Like many here, I am a political prognosticator. I followed Sarah Palin here for almost 2 years and told friends last May if McCain only chance is to pick Palin. So what does Sarah Palin's latest move mean?

Sarah Palin's holiday-eve decision to resign as governor blindsided TV commentators and bloggers who scrambled to come up with an explanation. The Daily Beast's presents a roundup of insta-reactions. THEORY 1: VANITY FAIR HURT HER FEELINGS Palin locks horns with the media on a regular basis, and the most recent addition to America’s Palin-bashing oeuvre—Todd Purdum’s 10,000-word Vanity Fair profile—was a doozy. Palin’s closest colleagues ridiculed her with nicknames like “Little Shop of Horrors,” accusations of incompetence and a personality disorder, and leaked personal emails. Alluding to Palin’s notoriously thin skin when it comes to media criticism (last week, an...

On July 26th, Palin begins her long, heroic quest for the Presidency to save the Republic from the Socialist dogs trying to bring her down. We are in trouble people and our "Joan of Arc" has taken up the challenge! RUN SARAH RUN!!!!!!

Sarah Palin’s announcement today that she is stepping down from her position as governor of Alaska, effective in two weeks, took the political world by surprise. Alaska’s lieutenant governor will be sworn in soon as that state’s chief executive in Pioneer Park. This will all be very orderly, but both the MSM outlets and the new media — the ones who are not out of town, taking mini-vacations for the Fourth of July — are oddly off-balance about the whole episode. To be sure, part of Mrs. Palin’s announcement was expected. Most people anticipated that she would let us in...

The Top Ten Reasons Sarah Palin is Resigning.... 10.Her mounting legal bills make it difficult to relax on her porch and stare at Russia. 9. She wants to raise Michael Jackson's children. 8. To pursue her goal of becoming a Tina Fey impersonator. 7. She wants to take time to learn all of her children's names. 6. Has an opportunity to teach "winking 101" at Harvard's political science department. 5. After returning all of her campaign attire, she's out of things to wear. 4. To start her own line of lip stick for pitbulls. 3. Wants to pick off David...