US Elections

You can't make this stuff up - Part II

By Nina Blackwell in San Francisco

7 July 2009

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Just as the entire U.S. was firing up their barbies (over here they call them “grills”) and scoping out the best spots for the Fourth of July fireworks, Sarah Palin dropped a political bombshell – she was resigning as Governor of Alaska. As I said – you just can’t make this stuff up.

While former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Vice President Dick Cheney might know the answer, (Palin called them both before announcing her decision) the rest of the nation was simply left to wonder why… 

Theories abound.

Some suggest that she felt like she was being crippled by harsh media criticism. In addition to the legendary fumbled interviews with CBS and ABC during the Presidential campaign and the ensuing media criticism, Vanity Fair recently published a voluminous story that was undeniably negative for Palin. 

Others suggested (although not altogether sympathetically) that she really did want to spend more “time with her family”. 

Others still pointed to a string of scandals that had plagued her Vice Presidential run and threatened to drag down her remaining months in the Governors office. 

Some have also suggested that she resigned because she was having trouble governing the state of Alaska and that she never wanted to be there in the first place. 

All of the theories however, have at their center her oft-suggested desire to run for President in 2012. Even if that were true – the question still begs – why resign?

While others may disagree, I cannot see much logic as to why Sarah Palin made this announcement. One of the best things Sarah Palin had going for her was that she was a woman holding executive office in a large U.S. state. It may be true that it isn’t a very populous state. It may be true that she has been criticized for her leadership as Governor. It may be true that without that office she is now free to travel around the U.S. raising money for other Republicans candidates and speaking at Republican and Conservative gatherings but you can do that while you remain Governor. Especially if you are a good governor. 

And what does this say about her commitment to the people who elected her? That when it suits her she is simply going to cut and run?

While she might now be free from the "chains" of the Governor's office, without saying it directly, her announcement has now thrust her completely into the discourse about Republican Party leaders and 2012 candidates and she has nowhere to hide, not from the media, not from the voters, not for three long years.

There was also no logic to the announcement. At her press conference she came across as disjointed and scattered. bsp;She said she did not want to be a “lame duck” because that was “politics as usual”. Hmmm… Since when did serving your full term in office become a negative thing? If she truly wanted to make a statement about her commitment to higher office and to the Republican Party, she missed that chance too by holding her press conference right before a holiday weekend.  Her announcement raised more questions than answers, which is not what you want to do if you are trying to start over again and remake yourself from a questionable governor into a real Presidential candidate.

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