Sarah Palin's Resignation Speech
Erika Bolstad
Dan Balz
Jonathan Martin
Mark Steyn
James Antle
John Batchelor
Jonathan Alter
I thought that yesterday I had all of the Sarah Palin gossip nailed down, then I came home in the afternoon and turned on the television to see when the Rockies baseball game was on, and I sat stunned for the next 3 hours watching Ms Palin's resignation speech and the weekend pundits reaction to it. She took a page from John McCain's playbook, making a bold move in a direction nobody could guess beforehand. She is either quitting politics or going out on speaking tours to raise money, more money than she could make as governor. I will bet it's the latter...
In the wake of these past few weeks, where major GOP presidential hopefuls have crushed their chances, we begin to wonder just what is going on? Scratch off Bobby Jindal, John Huntsman, David Vitter, John Ensign, Mark Sanford, and now Sarah Palin. Also scratch off Rudy Guliani because he's already crazier than a cross-dressing bedbug... It's pretty clear what is happening is that some of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters are alive and well and going around the country dosing major Republicans with LSD. It explains the confused, rambling speeches that don't say anything concrete... Next, we will have the revelation that Mit Romney is a member of warren Jeff's cult and has several wives stashed away in compounds in Texas, Colorado, and Utah... Newt Gingrich can't get any crazier or obtuse, which is why he appears unchanged, which leaves us to speculate on the next pronouncments by Haley Barbour and Tim Pawlenty... Instead of finding a big tent for the Republican Party, perhaps all it needs to do is find an old Volkswagon Van and take it to the road, let their freak flag fly!!!!!!!!
Some other Palin comments from websites:
Steve Benen from Political Animal: "Towards the end of her strange speech yesterday, Sarah Palin said, "[I]t hurts to make this choice but I'm doing what's best for Alaska, and I have explained why..... I've given my reasons."
Apparently, she didn't explain it very well, because no one -- friend or foe, Dem or Republican, media or officeholder, in Alaska or in the lower 48 -- seems to have the foggiest idea what she's thinking right now.
There are plenty of possibilities, but very few answers.
1. She wants to run for president.
Being stuck running the executive branch in Alaska wasn't helping her national ambitions, so she's walking away from her duties. Her first trip to Iowa will be announced in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...
2. She's sick of politics.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported yesterday, citing "people very close to Sarah Palin," that outgoing governor has "told her supporters that she is out of politics, period. She is fed up with politics. She doesn't like her life. She feels that she needs to raise her family. She's sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capital. And she really does not want to run for higher office, that this is not a case where she is stepping down in order to clear the way for a presidential run. In fact, she has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012."
3. She's getting out now in advance of a major political scandal.
Palin has only held statewide office for 30 months, but she's already been caught playing fast and loose with state ethics laws. AKMuckraker reports on other Palin-related scandals that may be poised to break.
4. She's running for the Senate.
Notice, one of the harsher Republican criticisms of Palin yesterday came from Alaska's Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who said, "I am deeply disappointed that the Governor has decided to abandon the State and her constituents before her term has concluded." Maybe she sees Palin in her rearview mirror? (Murkowski is seeking re-election next year.)
5. She wants to spend more time with her family.
It's the ultimate in political cliches, but Palin is a mother of five, including a baby with special needs.
6. She has a secret.
A serious medical condition she doesn't want to talk about? A problem on "the Appalachian trail" (if you know what I mean)?
7. She's gone mad.
Josh Marshall speculated, "Either Palin is resigning ahead of some titanic scandal (which should emerge in short order if it exists) or her resignation was triggered by an even more extreme mental instability than we'd previously suspected."
I'm open to suggestion, but for now, I tend to think it's #1. Palin has, I suspect, been given some very bad advice, and has come to believe that she can launch a credible national campaign. Sensible, reasonable people realize how extraordinarily ridiculous this is, but Palin, I'm guessing, has been blinded by a combination of ambition, arrogance, and conspicuous unintelligence.
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