Apparently to pursue a run for president. If she's smart, she'll spend some time getting tutored by experts in the various policy issues so she can at least talk a good game. She's still a rock star in her own right, but as we can see, being a rock star isn't enough - you still have to govern.
Yeah, I really don't get this. She had a paper thin resume before. Being governor was the one major political position she'd ever had. And she quits? It's kind of hard to imagine her getting many headlines in the next few years, unless she gets in another debate with David Letterman. And does any politician looking to add gravitas want to be known for debating Dave?
The Republican field is weak and getting weaker. Sanford and what's his name already disqualified themselves, and now Palin seems more like a lightweight than ever. Mitt Romney is about the only guy who has a chance in 2012, along with perhaps Bobby Jindal. Maybe somebody else will pop up between now and the next election.
She still draws crowds of 20,000+. She'd demonstrate some gravitas if she starts making powerful speeches with real content in them that appeals to the masses.
I would vote for anyone versus Palin, simple as that. Whether they would be Democrat, Socialist, Communist, etc. Palin is dumber than a rock.
I think Palin ends up being the Republican nominee, as Romney and Jindal rear up to go against Clinton in 2016, and Obama slaughters Palin, winning damn near every state.
Her supporters REALLY support her, but the country as a whole does not seem too taken with her, after an initial curiousity factor. And pardon my ignorance, I am an independent after all, but shouldn't a candidate have positions on national and international issues, and knowledge thereof, BEFORE running for president?
I'm generally with you crandc, but I'd rather have someone that knows what he/she doesn't know, than to say things to get elected and then figure out what they need to know.
BTW If you think about "tough" American women in our history, Palin does not even register. This decision shows that she is not someone that is ready to fight for your rights. She is too soft, and compare her to the women that fought for the right to vote. They were beaten in the streets, called whores, and generally hated by many. Yet they did not quit, just sayin...
Well she has all three of those going for her actually... She was beaten...2008 election. She's surely been called a whore...check something awful.com pretty sure there's gold in dem dere internets. And she is certainly hated...generally. Yes those three things...yes thre-four in FOUR ways she is like the 1920's suffragettes.. And four she just won't quit, like you know even when she should...for all of us...please?! No really please not her! I bet during her interview with Katie Couric didn't expect some sort of Spanish Inquisition
Clearly she's going to run for President. I think her tack is that she's not going to be one of these people who get paid for one job while campaigning for another. I believe--although I'm probably wrong--that she put the Lt. Governor in charge of Alaska when she accepted the VP nomination. Her whole message is going to be that of an outsider. Not having the people of Alaska pay her for a job she's not going to do will reinforce that message. She's not my cup of tea, but I understand her appeal to many.
David Gergen and Ed Rollins called her a quitter: "When the going gets tough, the tough quit." I think she's toast for 2012 now - Americans don't like quitters.
She quit in hopes of preventing any more legal probes of her shady dealings with Big Oil, and most likely will be gifted with a position promoting their interests. Her political career is over.
Palin can make a lot more money working for Fox News, giving speeches, or by opening up a super church. Resigning her governorship was a good decision for her family.
