Gotta admit – didn’t see this coming. Not sure exactly what is happening but stay tuned!
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning.
Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor’s Picnic at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks on Saturday, July 25, Palin said.
There was no immediate word as to why she will resign, though speculation has been rampant that the former vice presidential candidate is gearing up for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Palin made the announcement flanked by Parnell and most, if not all, of her cabinet.
Parnell ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Don Young in the Republican primary last year.
The stunning announcement by Palin opens the floodgates for the 2010 gubernatorial race. Speculation that Palin might not seek re-election had fueled further conjecture of who might run.
Right now speculation is leaning toward she wanted to free herself for a national run…
Gotta admit – At this point I cannot see how this is a good idea. I have thought that for a while that reelection of a few years in the Senate was the best idea. I would have counseled patience. Sarah obviously has other thoughts.
Update: Sarah’s brother says she has been spending 80% of her time defending herself against myriad of complaints. Could not effectively govern anymore. This is the right thing to do.
Update: Sarah Palin just tweeted “We’ll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election… this is in Alaska’s best interest, my family’s happy… it is good, stay tuned”
By the way, Huckabee is the happiest person on the planet today. Just sayin’.
Developing…
Pundette sums up my feelings rather well on some of the commentary being made belittling Sarah’s polling of her family.
July 3, 2009 at 9:55 pm
whoa, I am very eager to read her thoughts on this. Wow.
July 4, 2009 at 12:54 am
Don't you worry, Sarah is not going away despite the slander campaign of the left wing media. She is merely regrouping to emerge as the winning presidential candidate in 2012.
GO SARAH!!
July 4, 2009 at 1:57 am
Something doesn't jibe here, her brother claims she spends 80% of her time fighting ethics complaints yet it seems at least once a week there'll be story about her speaking somewhere in the lower 48 and what she has to say at that time.
Can you say, "smokescreen"?
July 4, 2009 at 2:00 am
Palin 2012!
July 4, 2009 at 2:17 am
More information on “grassroots” supporters gathering across the nation to support Sarah Palin for President in 2012 can be found online at http://www.palin4pres2012.com
Note, the website is in danger of crashing due to the flood of readers and supporters signing up to show their interest in a Palin Candidacy. The GOP establishment had better watch out, Sarah Palin and Ron Paul combined with the power of the internet will remove the stranglehold of GOP special interests and the elites who have brought the party to its knees in defeat in the 2008 elections.
July 4, 2009 at 3:11 am
I was shocked and disappointed to hear that.
July 4, 2009 at 4:13 am
I am a Republican, really liked her acceptance speech, but its all been downhill from there. Leaving a job before the end of the term?? This only makes her look like a quitter and a loose cannon and hurts her in 2012.
July 4, 2009 at 5:08 am
"Something doesn't jibe here, her brother claims she spends 80% of her time fighting ethics complaints yet it seems at least once a week there'll be story about her speaking somewhere in the lower 48 and what she has to say at that time.
Can you say, "smokescreen"?"
Sunvet let mesay I think the blogs give the appearance of that but since the election she has only left Alaska I think 4 times
July 4, 2009 at 6:09 am
"Sunvet let mesay I think the blogs give the appearance of that but since the election she has only left Alaska I think 4 times"
James H, in that case I was misinformed. Thanks for the correction.
July 4, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Palin’s move puts yet more pressure on Obama to finally get some results, as the soaring rhetoric isn’t hypnotizing the plebes like it used to.
This week Helen Thomas, Colin Powell, and Warren Buffet all turned on him. Polls are looking droopy for The One lately.
Obama’s porkulus program is a train wreck, all it’s done is bump interest rates and tank the dollar. We are being laughed at by bad guys like Tehran, Pyongyang, and Al Qaida who amazingly turned-down Barack’s friend-requests.
Palin could trounce him in 2012, when Americans would vote for the Gipper-in-Heels in drones- while begging for lower taxes, free enterpise, and a defense posture with some backbone- and an end to the radical, anti-American agenda of the kook we've got now.
Go get ‘em Sarah-
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
July 4, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Maybe I'm being paranoid here but here goes…
Is anyone beginning to think this is part of some strategy to allow Obama to run virtually unopposed in 2012?
Just asking.
Steven P. Cornett
July 5, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Steve— We'll see… If a Jindal scandal erupts, THEN I'll be suspicious….. because it's really too early to be determining the 2012 field….
I think Mark Steyn had the best take on this– Sarah Palin didn't mean to get into politics. She LIKES her normal life of hunting, fishing, working the family business and hanging with her kids. Maybe she just realized that politics wasn't worth the mess…..
Or, to put it another way… maybe she decided she didn't WANT to gain the whole world if it meant losing her soul.
She got the gas pipeline through–that was her main goal as governor. Alaska will be fine without her, her kids need her, and the national attention has been horrible for her family. Why shouldn't she quit?
It does kinda stink that all the politicians I like (Thompson, Palin) end up unelectable because they care more about their families than their careers. Maybe the only answer is to elect really OLD guys (like Reagan)—that way politics the permenant Deaconate– a second vocation for guys whose kids are grown and don't NEED them to be around as much…..
July 6, 2009 at 9:14 am
The reasons of Palin resignation are controversial. What could be the real cause of her decision? Vote on the most possible one – http://www.votetheday.com/america/palin-resignation-424/