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- desmoinesdem
- Mark Langgin

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- Iowa politics in 2009 (pt. 1)
- Iowa politics in 2009 (pt. 2)
- National politics in 2009 (pt. 1)
- National politics in 2009 (pt. 2)
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Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.

They're dropping like flies

by: desmoinesdem

Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 15:14:28 PM CDT

If you had asked me to guess which Republican governor would resign on the Friday before 4th of July weekend, I would have put money on Mark "I met my soul mate" Sanford of South Carolina.

But surprisingly, it's Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who announced plans to resign without giving a coherent explanation.

I haven't been right about everything, but I always knew John McCain did Democrats a favor by elevating Palin to superstardom.

This is an open thread.

UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has the full transcript of Palin's resignation speech.

In this clip, Palin explains that she doesn't want to "put Alaskans through" the horror of having a lame-duck governor. She's transferring power to the lieutenant governor because she's "not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual":

Indictment? Family situation? Your guess is as good as mine.

I think we can all agree that someone who didn't even stick it out for one whole term as governor has no future in electoral politics.

SECOND UPDATE: So much unintentional comedy in Palin's speech today. I like this part:

Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and "go with the flow".
Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow".

So, she's resigning after less than one term because she doesn't want to take "a quitter's way out."

THIRD UPDATE: Steve Benen lays out seven possible reasons for Palin's resignation. He thinks she is running for president. That makes no sense to me--she could have served out her term and not run for re-election in 2010, leaving plenty of time to campaign for president.

Chris Bowers thinks Palin mainly wants to cash in on her celebrity before running for president, but I lean toward Josh Marshall's view. There may be a major scandal or criminal indictment coming down the pike.

desmoinesdem :: They're dropping like flies

Tags: Republican Party, GOP, Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, (All Tags)

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They're dropping like flies | 2 comments

perhaps (0.00 / 0)

she's pregnant again with Bristol's baby. I think she owes us a turn in the stirrups so that bloggers can investigate.

I will be honest. I don't understand the obsession with this woman, pro or con.

she could have served out her term

Do you really think so? It seems fairly straightforward to me that she was no longer effective as governor after the election.

First of all, most of these ethics charges are crapola, and most were filed after August-08. The AP published a list yesterday, and only one, the email charges, appears to have legs. Otherwise, stuff like "wore a jacket w/ her husband's snowmobile team patch" is ridiculous. Imagine if in IA Culver were subjected to the same -- mandatory investigation of any charge submitted by any citizen.

Second, she was getting too caught up in these arguments with people like Letterman. Part of it was her own fault, but it's always easy to tell other people to put something on ignore.

Third, every time she participated in an event outside of AK, the 'ambition' accusations started. Other politicians do a lot of traveling out of state but don't seem to suffer the consequences. Things are a bit different in AK, clearly. So perhaps she is unloading the position to take advantage of other opportunities, perhaps media, but that's the American way, isn't it?

I am not in a position to judge whether she resigned due to the ethics complaints (a position taken in the WaPo this morning) or whether she's ditching the gov role for national ambitions (speculation). So, I just wish her and her family well. She doesn't bother me in the slightest. I have my own free will, and there's nothing that can force me to vote for her or to watch her on cable if I don't want to. In fact, if she were to do an outdoors type program, I might even watch.

by: ragbrai08 @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 13:57:59 PM CDT

she ran for a four-year term (0.00 / 0)

as governor. Alaska voters hired her for the job. Now she is quitting because she doesn't like the criticism and she isn't effective?

A lot of governors have low approval ratings right now. Several governors are limited in what they can accomplish because the other party controls the legislature. Are they resigning? No, they asked voters to hire them and they are serving out their terms.

If she doesn't like the job, it would be sufficient not to run for re-election. I find it weird that she is claiming some kind of moral high ground (she's not going to "milk it," she portrays other people as quitters even as she is quitting).

Invite other Iowa political junkies to join us at Bleeding Heartland.

by: desmoinesdem @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 23:21:06 PM CDT

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