Making sense of Sarah: What’s next for Palin?
July 6th, 2009
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s surprise resignation on Friday has inspired a range of reactions.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called her a ‘nutty puppy’ on Sunday. The Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said she was taking a path to the presidency similar to Barack Obama.
So what’s your take on Palin’s news conference? (To watch the full conference, click here.)
Did Palin misstep in resigning office with nearly two years left in her term? Or if her ambition is to become president, does it matter what she did or didn’t do in Alaska? After all, she had even less experience in office when she became the Republican Party’s nominee for vice president.
Or, does this have bigger implications for the GOP? Did Palin do the party a favor by stepping aside before the end of her first term and potentially dooming her chances in 2012? Or is this just another questionable move from yet another Republican contender?
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The Forum
July 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I don’t know Governor Palin’s plans but I hope she remains very visible.
You can always tell the top Republicans by the abuse the Liberals heap on them.
Governor Palin gets the Clearance Thomas treatment. Colin Powell would have in ‘96 but he bowed out of a presidential race in time to save his wife’s privacy.
But Sarah has guts and Charisma.
The only politician who draws a bigger crowd is President Obama. And he is rapidly becoming the fastest lame duck in American history.
So GO SARAH!!!
Do what your Maverick heart tells you to do and we’ll all meet up down the road and sort it out.
Sid
July 7th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Run Sarah, Run!
On behalf of Democrats across the United States, I hope that Sarah Palin’s sudden resignation means that she will be running for President. Her rambling press conference was reminiscent of not only her running mate John McCain’s erratic decision to suspend his campaign last fall but it also reminded Floridians of why she was a drag on the ticket.
During the 2008 campaign, the vast majority of Floridians didn’t think Palin was qualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
In giving the people of Alaska just two weeks notice, Palin is abandoning her state following the Charlie Crist model of failed leadership.
Yet, while following Crist’s example, with both leaving the mess they created as Governor for others to deal with, its worth asking when Sarah Palin will tell Crist, “Anything you can do, I can do better.” While Palin is bailing in two weeks, Crist has made it clear that he will spend the next 16 months phoning it in as he counts down the number of days left in his term. And this isn’t the first time that Crist has been one upped by Palin, with Palin having been selected to be McCain’s running mate despite Crist’s best effort to sucking up to McCain.
As for Palin, in the immediate aftermath of her resignation speech, some suggested that by resigning Palin was leaving public office and the scrutiny (fair or unfair) that comes with being a public official. Since resigning however, Palin and her allies have signaled that she is taking the early steps needed to run for President in 2012.
By resigning, after only three years as Governor, Sarah Palin’s actions raise questions about her dedication to public service and providing leadership. Fundamentally, most people run for public office with the intention of serving the people and leading their community to a brighter future.
Palin’s recent actions suggest that she has forgotten this fact, having lost touch with the ideals that attract Americans to serve. Instead, Palin seems only interested in her celebrity status and playing the partisan political games that Floridians are sick of.
For these reasons and more, that’s why I say: Run Sarah, Run!!
July 7th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I mostly wonder why Sarah Palin thinks Charlie Crist is a quitter. After all, he’s made the decision to serve out his term, rather than quit to go fishing. Clearly, that makes him a quitter.
Other than that, I am pleased to report bipartisanship rules in this forum: Run, Sarah, Run!
July 7th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Although I am tempted to like Palin for her ability to give libs fits for apparently no reason at all, this resignation stunt will do nothing to further her political career.
Regardless, this ill-advised decision along with that of another colleague’s from South Carolina is rapidly turning 2012 into an entertaining slugfest between populist Huckabee and economist Romney.
Run Jeb Run!
July 8th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Her move is a great three-fer:
1. Get ethics legal debt paid down/off by going on book/lecture circuit;
2. Collect political capital through campaigning for social conservative candidates;
3. Vie with Huckabee/Romney for control of GOP base to become a viable candidate by end of next year. If that doesn’t work, continue with #1 and #2 above.
Oh, and a fourth “fer”: may she find time somewhere to practice traditional family values when she’s not in the lower 48.