Palin to resign as Governor
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Various sites (Talking Points Memo is the only linking to an Alaskan source) are reporting that Sarah Palin will resign as Governor of Alaska at the end of the month. Politico speculates that this frees her up to run President in 2012.
Posted by brandonb at 1:37 PM on July 3rd 2009
Not a bad move -- if there's no timebomb behind it as the real motivator.
(How did that state trooper thing wind up, anyway?)
Health directors in Alaska were recently forced out due to clashes with Palin, but it doesn't sound like a major scandal. Could it be just an ill thought out plan to dominate news over the 4th of July weekend?
Maybe Barry should take this opportunity reward her years of public service with an Ambassadorship to, say, Lesotho?
The sports metaphor is a bit wonky and full of herself, but hey, it's Sarah Palin. She really does ramble all over the place, hitting Republican talking points.
There is now, I guess. It's all so very odd, seems suddenly rushed.
The transcript of the speak is here. She mentions " That could be really bad news. Sarah Palin the politician is accountable. Sarah Palin the citizen, like Rush Limbaugh, doesn't have to answer to anyone.
A 2012 run needs big, big cash. She needs time to make those connections that are going fund her, which is a full-time job. If she can be parachuted into the private sector and make a bundle for herself, so much the better.
If it's that, it's a smart move (or maybe just one she's compelled by the others to make). But why the total silence on why? Can't she just throw out a garbage line about devoting more time to her special needs son or something?
It's one thing to run for President, but to QUIT while not completing your first time just smacks of crazy. Sure Alaska is far away from the lower 48, but it looks and is a wedge issue.
Perhaps she was forced out by the GOP in Alaska? Did she really hope to hide this by announcing it today? It's just all sorts of bizarre, unnecessary drama.
Her being pushed out may sound right, but then it comes up against the same question -- why now?
And the 'not wasting time and money' bit seems like code for 'I did something bad which I can't fight'.
Huh.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease let it become public. PLEASE.
*looks hopefully at next week*
I see people counting her out for a presidential run but I don't until we know WTF is going on with her.
Were it her choice, she could have set a decent time and place, had a proper speech prepared, all of that. This clearly was a rush job, all rambling and angry. And the news cycle is meant for burial, but all of the internettes are on fire with this now, with the mainstream media not far behind.
Something big, I tell ya. BIG. Something that won't be able to be washed away as a reformed sinner, but something in black and white that just can't be denied.
Hell, at this point, even if there ISN'T something there, there's always going to be a rumour that there was. That may be damage enough.
I wonder if the CBS leak was a warning shot to her, i.e. "Hey, we're serious about you know what"
Hell, who knows? No can really say much, other than "snowmobiling the Appalachian Trail" is probably out.
The optics are bad enough, but if there's paper or email backing it up -- she's done.
You don't have to be Dr. Freud to see this slip.
This is what happens when you ad-lib a speech, instead of preparing one ahead of time.
The embezzlement angle sounded right at first, but watching the tape again -- I'm sold. We're not dealing with criminal geniuses here -- it's gotta be that there's a damning email on one of their fake accounts or such.
OK, OK, I think I get her angle now. She's quitting so that more taxpayer money or Governor time isn't 'wasted' on more ethics charges -- i.e. she's falling on her sword of ethics for our benefit. It's not any admission that the charges are justified, of course. What she's doing is noble, really.
This kind of self-delusion is fairly Standard Palin Operating Procedure, no? The impossible, unviable spin that only she believes?
I actually winced when you said you were listening to her again. She literally makes my skin crawl because her sentences add up to nothing, literally complete BS, but she keeps doing it. It's insane.
Oh god that's hysterically funny. And bizarre. And I think you're right-- what is on her mind is leaking through her ad-libbing. Wow.
She doesn't have the discipline to even script a few talking points to avoid that kind of wording? Or the time. Or both.
And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”.
looks like a dig at Sanford. So classy!
Updates from Bradblog:
OK, that's weird. All the more suggestion of this having been rushed through.
The building scandal isn't new. I would guess, though, that federal investigators working on it since October would be able to dig up something substantive by now, something well beyond the ordinary clouds of suspicion. I am also presuming that a decision to prosecute would have to be vetted at the very highest levels, given the political sensitivities involved -- and that takes some time, too.
Given the hacking of Palin's email account during the campaign by some kid, I expect that while Palin or Todd may have hidden their activities, investigators wouldn't exactly have to break the Enigma codes on it.
Whatever it is, it's going to break soon. I would hate for this to be one of those stories that's done and over between my going to bed and my waking up in the morning...
"Great gifts to all peoples?"
WUT
OK, dude, you're a fan -- fine. Granted. But c'mon. She's not exactly Mandela, is she?
Even qualified for Alaskans only, does she even rank with Curt Schilling? Has she influenced more people than Jewel?
I had this image of Alaska being a pristine place, but dammit if there isn't something in the water...
Oh ha. Now I'm even more convinced. Palin camera time is special like that.
More likely that there was a general whiff of something going down in the longer-term, and someone laying the groundwork for distancing ahead of that. But to get this close timing -- you would have to be tuned in to some vastly different sources to get it this exact.
Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) is less than amused with Palin's decision.
There was talk of her running for the Senate, but polls showed her getting trounced by current Senator Lisa Murkowski, who got the Senate seat because of her dad who was then Governor and whom Palin actually beat for Governor. So Palin was able to ride a populist wave and beat the dad, partially due to widespread anger over him appointing a family member, but now can't beat said family member.
Palin's general poll numbers have definitely sunk and she's no longer the media darling she was portrayed as. The Governor's race in Alaska seemed wide open with Palin as the obvious front runner, but not in a strong way. Alaska has closed primaries, so it's a question of how much Republicans in the State like her, but the state party seems to like her just fine.
She's not good at preparation, she's terrible when she's off script, especially in interview format. Even the right who loves her will get to see hours upon hours of her trying to wing it, day in, day out, and not doing all that well. Not to mention that with that increased exposure, her inevitable gaffs are going to be magnified all the more.
It'd be a real dumb move. Even for her.
Uh, no -- you didn't. Still waiting.
And it's nice to see you still blaming the media, rather than using Occam's Razor to see that the problem with all of your failed communications is in fact yourself. Ever the victim. Nice.
Well. She really is crazy.
At some point in that chain of craziness my outrage at her "woe is me, the media hates and vilifies me by reporting on me at all" becomes pure amusement. And a little bit of pity. She seems to truly have no understanding of what the normal bounds of behavior for the media are. And to be such a visible figure, I can see how that'd be a big problem for her.
The really weird part though, is this:
In an interview, Van Flein said it's not clear what those options might be. His letter cites the freedom of speech clause in the Alaska Constitution, and its statement that "every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right."
You know, the Alaska Constitution is trumped by a document or two. That the lawyer is pushing that and Palin's own push for "energy independence" i.e. making Alaska rich by drilling like crazy there reminds me that the Alaskan Independence Party is too close to the Palins hearts.
As if visualizing her as VP didn't give me enough nightmares. She has no business being a public figure if this is her idea of managing media coverage. Jesus.
Just because you're not aware of any doesn't mean there aren't any.
And the defamation claim is laughable. There was simply a report of the rumours that were out there, and they were qualified as such. And raising the claim of defamation is always tricky -- as the main defence is a defence of truth, it inevitably leads to a testing of the claim on the merits themselves -- which doesn't always go your way.
But, as they say in the law biz, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your clients...
For some of these, there's some plausible deniability. A small window which Palin can squeeze herself through, and not actually be lying.
Example: Palin lied when she wrote in the NYT that a comprehensive review by Alaska wildlife officials showed that polar bears were not endangered; in fact, email correspondence between those scientists showed the opposite.
I have no idea what the review actually stated, but just on its face, email correspondence between participants does not equal the conclusions of the group's review. It remains possible for both statements to be correct.
Palin lied when she denied having said that humans do not contribute to climate change; in fact, she had previously proclaimed that human activity was not to blame.
Let's look at Sullivan's original story: Climate change is a critical issue. Here is what Sarah Palin told Charlie Gibson in her first interview:
PALIN: I think you are a cynic because show me where I have ever said that there's absolute proof that nothing that man has ever conducted or engaged in has had any affect, or no affect, on climate change.
Here is what she said last year:
"I'm not a doom and gloom environmentalist like Al Gore blaming the changes in our climate on human activity."
For the record.
All the original statement shows is that she claimed not to be an enviromentalist like Al Gore. And she's not. It's open for her to be some other kind of environmentalist, and not necessarily contradict herself.
More: Palin lied when she suggested to Katie Couric that she was involved in trade missions with Russia; in fact, she has never even met with Russian officials.
You don't have to meet with officials to be 'involved' in the trade mission somehow.
More: Palin lied when she said she kept her running injury a secret on the campaign trail; in fact, her bandaged hand was clearly visible in photographs and the story was widely talked about.
If she did make efforts to keep it a secret, then it's not a lie. The efficacy of her efforts have nothing to do with it.
Listen -- I dislike Palin as much as anyone. I find her repugnant on personal and professional levels, not to mention dangerously unqualified for high office and likely delusional. But there's more than enough in her own record to nab her for, than to be unfair in the presentation of that record.
Jesus, could the woman be more ignorant?! And don't give me that "she's just plain folks" line, that's no excuse for being stupid.
This ethics complaint against Palin is the second one filed by Wasilla native Zane Henning. Previously he had complained about Palin holding television interviews about running from Vice-President from the Governor's office. The complaint was dismissed. The link speculates Henening was influenced to file the complaint by his wife, who often calls a local radio station to complain about Palin.
Heh, all politics is local.
Whoa -- what?
So the effect would be that a politician could be neck-deep in allegations, and the image the public has is that they're clean as a whistle? Until after the adjudication is complete, and (presumably) all appeals exhausted? And the public interest to be fought for by just one individual in secret?
Interesting rule. Does it matter who talks about it or is the rule only against those filing the complaints? If the latter, then it seems like it would be a cat and mouse game of leaking things to the press.
The press is just asking questions. If you're sure of your argument and ideas, those questions may be pesky, but ultimately not a problem.
It's an interesting read, though written by a lawyer who represented someone who filed ethics violations against Palin, so keep that in mind. However the reasoning he presents for her quitting seems reasonable; she had lost control of the legislature and not only would she have been a lame duck, it would have particularly painful since even Republicans were going to be going against her. The writer does say that Palin will never run for President because it's too much work compared to being a celebrity.
Oops.
The legislature is working out all the pesky details.
Some questions answered, at least. She refused GOP help/advice, prefered to do things her way, wound up in a royal mess. At which point the party seems to have cut her loose, as shown through the Vanity Fair article.
The price for being a maverick, I suppose.
Still others will drink more.