Anyone who thinks that she did this to further her political career is ridiculously out of their minds. How anyone can believe that quitting when the pressure gets high is a valuable trait for a politician holding high office is beyond me.

Sarah Pailin is a failure on many levels. And she just proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt yesterday. Someone should do a chart of her successes vs. her failures, just to plainly illustrate how incompetent she actually is. Her base is just plain delusional. Why would anyone in their right mind want her to run this country? If she can't handle this pressure she can't handle the Presidency, period. Hell, she wouldn't even be able to handle the Vice Presidency. I laugh when I reply in my mind her running for VP, telling the country that just because she was Governor of a state she had more experience than Obama. Look at her now. Fucking hilarious.

I can't wait for her to go away and never rear her ugly head again. I hope there's some sort of corruption scandal that seals her fate for good. This circus side show needs to end. We have much bigger problems in this country that need attention and press time. Sarah Pailin is a political tabloid train wreck who only serves to distract this country from serious issues.

Go away Pailin. And take your bullshit divisive ways with you.

A half million dollars in legal fees is a pretty big tab for a person of modest means. She will now be able to get all the money she needs to face her legal trouble, take care of her family and run for president... Palin's not going any where. Tina fey get ready.

Palin shrugs off scandal like a sweater. She simply denies the reality of anything that doesn't fit with her self-deluded image. It's hard to believe that a looming scandal could be at the root of this. Besides, she has been examined with a fine-tooth comb for months with only a handful of rumors as a result. If there was something there, you'd think it would be public knowledge already. I suspect this is simply about greed and power. She is not able to pursue lucrative employment while she's the governor without bringing even more ethical complaints down on herself, so she just decided to follow the money. My guess is she has been offered a public platform on Fox and that she hopes to parlay that and the fortune she will make in the private sector to a presidential bid in 2012.

I have been looking at several right wing blogs since this happened, and there is only one conclusion I can come to. These people are batshit crazy! What on earth has happened to conservatism in this country?

was looking to her political future, she would have made the announcement on a day that would have maximized her impact. The day before a holiday weekend is usually reserved for announcements that politicians want to have a short media life. This leads credence to the idea that she's resigning to avoid impeachment and that there's an impending scandal or indictment of some kind.

Listen to the speech. Look at her body language. Consider the venue and the timing.

It's clear what she's thinking: Get out now before the indictment. That, or some deal was cut with a prosecutor. No other explanation makes sense. Even a brewing personal scandal wouldn't cause this -- look at Mark Stanford.

Palin is resigning to start her presidential bid. Since Kristol is consistently wrong about everything, we can be sure that this is not the case.

I enjoyed your post.

I suspect ReaderReader, as one of Sarah's faithful horde, is probably on to something: Sarah is not out of the political game at all.

She's the only candidate who uses Jesus language now, isn't she? The Protestant fundamentalists still have enormous prejudice against Mormons, even the fundamentalist ones. Mitt is not going to be an easy swallow for them if Sarah's not on the ballot in 2012. Rudy just doesn't draw the Protestant fundamentalists in either--he talks like a fundy sometimes, but he's not a Jesus faithful--the Christian fundies know who's for real among them. Sanford was borderline (his Episcopalian connections make him suspect), but now that he's out, Sarah is IT for the fundies.

I agree that there is no dividing Sarah's faithful from her--nothing she could do would be anything but a call from God (aka "unusual politics")--EXCEPT: 1) if she rejected Christ or the fundy code -talk (never gonna happen); 2) if she started empathizing with the full-court press Obama has been getting from Fox, Krauthammer, Limbaugh, et al ever since he took office (never gonna happen).

Alex Koppelman is right, in my opinion: appealing to the fundies will keep Sarah well financed for several years, but she's not going to win over the rest of the Republicans out there.

They love Sarah Palin. She's one of them. Well, perhaps she's not so happy right now but give her some bright lights and microphone.

OTOH,I wonder what happens when the question comes up about her fitness for higher office when she abandoned ship while her state was struggling. If she can't handle problems in-state, how in the world is she to stand up to North Korea?

I actually believe that she really has determined that she's not cut out for representative politics. As many other people have said, her base will always back her no matter what. I think she's poised to become the next Anita Bryant. Just traveling around getting paid huge sums of money to speak and attend fund-raisers and rallies. There's no pressure with that gig, you get to say whatever you want, and no electoral consequences.

And lets not forget the she'll get paid a lot of money. She's the female Joe the Plumber, only on a much larger scale. The right wing base LOVES these types of bullies who can take pot-shots at elected officials who really are held accountable by voters. Who cares if you're ridiculed by late night comedians when you're laughing all the way to the bank?