I went to Google News to verify your statement, and found several headlines saying only that Governor Palin had announced that she would not be seeking a second term. Nothing about resigning. I was going to post something to that effect here, but first I tried one of the links. The first headline on the Google page (from Fox News) said "Palin Opts Against Run for Second Term as Alaska Governor," but when I clicked on it, it took me to an article headed "Palin Quits, Transfers Power to Lt. Governor."
Well, it will be interesting to see what other story is behind this story.
I just heard from a "political insider" and the buzz is that she resigned because some scandal had been uncovered. Huh. Let's see what happens. Apparently there are deals being made as we speak.
When I first heard the news I thought she was resigning because she was going to prepare her machine to run for the Casa Blanca in 2012. But apparently there will be none of that.
Ya never know.
What is it that George Carlin says? When you're born into this world you're born into a 3-ring circus; when you're born into the United States, you get a front row seat.
Resigning the governorship this far in advance will NOT help a run for the Presidencey in 2012, it just makes her look like she can't handle the work load or the pressure which would be a very bad thing.
Most governors can make a day trip to Iowa or New Hampshire to do a little pre-campaigning campaigning (but really, I'm not running!). That's a little hard to do from Juneau. Maybe to Seattle and back but you can't actually get from Juneau to Boston and back in the same day, even if just land and take off again. The trip is too long.
But that doesn't explain why she is quitting. It might explain why she isn't running for another term.
I think the truth (barring some revelation that may be forthcoming) is that she loved campaigning because that's all about the campaigner. People chanting your name. Everyone wanting to shake your hand. Governing is BORING. It's a lot of pushing paper and meetings about things no one cares about but that have to be done (because if they aren't done people WOULD care!) It's tedious and unless you are a policy wonk (which SP most obviously is not) it's a real drag.
So yeah, it would be easier for her to run for president while not being in Alaska. She and the governor of Hawaii would have unique challenges in that regard. But I don't think that's what's going on. I'm not sure even her staff knows given the haphazard nature of the resignation.
And seriously, do governors just not have handlers any more? This and the Sanford resignations were embarrassing. Not just the substance but the presentation just seemed amateurish.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
Being re-elected to a second term as governor would be a much better position for her to run for president. There's something else going on and I think we'll hear about it by the end of next week.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
I can see why it might be nice to take a year and a half off
July 6 2009, 1:24 PM
If she wants to run then I can see why it would be nice to take a year and a half off, tour the country, make speeches, make connections, build up her knowledge of issues, etc.
BUT not at the cost of running out on a governorship. She will come off like she couldn't hack the pressure, couldn't multitask, was a quitter, has really no experience and doesn't have the spine for politics.
If she wanted time off she should just not run again and do her prep on her own time and rebuild her image, then get back in the game withOUT the negative mark of having resigned a governorshop in a half assed manner.
First of all, that speech looked like something your teenager would say when they were trying REALLY hard to convince of something. It doesn't look like she believes what she's saying.
Second, IF she's really doing this to look toward a higher office to "help Alaska," it's the wrong move. Who runs for higher office after quitting your last job after only serving just over half of the term you were elected to...not even half since she was on the road campaigning for Vice-President for eight months. Vote for me! I had a great record until I quit, but I really, REALLY promise to stay the whole time this time. Youbetcha.
Third, what does it say about the state of your party when you have one governor who left their state high and dry - leaving no one in charge while he gallivanted off to see his mistress in another country - refuses to resign, and another governor who just up and resigns, just 'cause? Why on earth would anyone elect someone like this to a national office?
If she wanted to fight the media glare, the best thing she could do is, A)sequester her family and order them to not say anything to the press, ever
B)order the press to stay away from the kids (like Clinton and Obama did)
C)do her job regardless of what was being said and come out with a record of achievements gained in the face of adversity.
Then after winning re-election, start running for President. You might not like the idea of running for one office while pursuing another, but that's how it's done. Showing the electorate that you can run a state and run a campaign benefits you.
Surely she's not stupid enough to think this move will be beneficial to national aspirations.
"Surely she's not stupid enough to think this move will be beneficial to national aspirations"
is dead-on - because it's not that she's 'stupid enough', she's 'delusional enough' to think that way. Anyone who watched her closely during the Prez campaign would've seen the 'real' her. And most conservatives who have become increasingly disillusioned with their party over the past decade did NOT like what they saw, either.
I have no doubt she'll be gunning for the 2012 elections -
but this time it'll be even more of a 'highway-accident-can't-look-away'-kind of thing than the 2008 campaign was. Sure, maybe there IS now ample lead-in time before the actual campaign starts in which to prepare and fund-raise, but it's my considered opinion that all that time won't do her a lick of good.
And if (like others here are insinuating) there really is some scandal going on that hasn't hit the media yet, she'll even be more damaged-goods than she is already.
Like the whole Michael Jackson thang, this particular story is gonna get way way WAYYYY weirder before it's over.
Just you watch.
=X>\=
T.V.
(who likes schadenfreude and all, but.... geez....!)
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"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others." ~ Bertrand Russell
and BEFORE I watched the video. If someone has hired her for a talk show, they must be shittin' their breeches after watching that episode. She is NOT someone who can be coherent (let alone eloquent) on the fly.
No, after watching that video and seeing her body language, I am convinced she is stepping down to avoid something. I wouldn't even bat an eye if it came out that she was having an affair...and maybe with the Lt. Governor. She was shaking inside the whole time she was fumbling for words and would barely look at him. Yep, I think they were sleeping together, she tried to break it off and he threatened to out her unless she stepped down and gave him the position. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...or at least that's what I'm putting in the libretto.
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"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others." ~ Bertrand Russell
You have to watch it to believe it. It is beyond lame: she is RAVING! She is not just stringing together clichés in her usual fashion but spewing them out in a weird, hysterical manner. She really sounds as if she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It seems to me that something has gone badly wrong for her or with her.
that this hasn't been in the works for very long. Something has to be up. No one just ups and quits being governor or Senator unless they are either 1) avoiding a major scandal or 2) taking another job/running for higher office.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
.... supposedly one of her aides is quoted spouting off about how she did it to 'save the state' from more money being wasted on her (Palin) continuing to have to defend herself against all these ethics investigations.
So I may be misremembering, but it seems that every time she leaves the state to do something someone files an ethics violation. But then why should Alaskans pay for her to appear at fundraisers for other Republicans etc?
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
I couldn't watch the whole thing. I stopped when she started talking about the troops and her trip to Kosovo. I recently had a discussion from someone from Europe (whose country does have a military) and she was shocked by how much the U.S. supports the military and how important this is to us. I explained that the U.S. military hasn't turned on the people and shot them (as in her country) so that's one reason why we remain positive about them. She said that she felt in this day and age that military should not be necessary--that as humans we should be able to use diplomacy. I'm a pacifist so I agree, but I had never had it pointed out to me so explicitly how Americans accept and glorify the war machine.
I can understand not seeking the re-election for whatever reason, but she should have finished out her term. I don't get that at all. She keeps saying that she can make more change out of the governor's office and being a governor of Alaska means sitting around and getting paid for doing practically nothing. If she were as great as she said she was during the pres. campaign, didn't she turn that all around? How is her not finishing her term as governor because she can't make any changes (if they are necessary) fit into that?
I agree there must be some kind of scandal. Nobody quits their office because their kids say they should and comes out and says that she can't do anything effective as a governor. That basically says she is ineffective.
What kind of president would she be if she held that quitter attitude? I can't do anything because the Congress and Senate won't pass my legislation so I'm just going to resign and let the vice-president take over.
The day to day reality of governing is actually pretty dull. It's a lot of important decisions that most people won't care about unless you fuck up and then they'll be all over you. But doing the right thing and making hard choices requires tons of meetings, lots of report reading and thankless long hours. It's not for people who think it's a celebrity world (*cough*HulkHogan*cough*).
As for the military, every country has one (or relies on someone else's). Switzerland hasn't been to war since...what the 13th century (?) and they still have an army. Pacifism is a wonderful idea but the Nazi tanks rolled right over the French pacifists. At the very least you have to be ready to defend your own borders. But I do see the point about American militarism. Of course if the Europeans would actually step up in places like Sarajevo maybe we could do a lot less of that sort of thing.
I have a lot of respect for Europe on a great many issues. But I keep seeing news about anti-gay violence in Holland by the arab minority (plus the murders of Fontuyn and Van Gogh who critized that community for violence against women and gays) and the response is "well we shouldn't criticize people who have different beliefs." What a bunch of scrotums.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
but as long as we live in a world with Kim Jong Il and the like, we need the military. Unfortunately, there are still places in this world that are ruled by mentally disturbed, belligerent, egomaniacal people and they view pacificists as prey. I for one am glad we have the military defense that we do at this time.
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"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others." ~ Bertrand Russell
in the case of the US I do wish there were more people in positions of power (or at least influence with those in power) who would say "are you sure there's not another way to do this without dropping bombs that will kill civilians and just make people hate us even more?" before we did some of the things that we have done over the last 50 years. If not, okay. But I think sometimes we didn't even try to find a diplomatic solution.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
Good God in Heaven, I have only watched 4:27 of that speech and I can't take it anymore. She's bull-shittin'. She's hiding something and/or doesn't believe a word she's saying. She is as convincing as a 14 year-old giving a campaign speech for class president.
And OMG, it only gets WORSE the longer you watch!! What. the. HELL is she talking about? I'm sorry, if there ever was a clip of video that is just waiting to be used as for an unflattering campaign add, that is it. She can barely string together a coherent sentence. And PLEASE SNL!!! You can't pass this one up!!
Did anyone else watch the whole thing and see her body language at the very end? The way she stood about 3 feet away from the Lt. Gov to awkwardly shake his hand just really looked odd. This doesn't seem like something she wanted to do at all. Her body language is all over the place and her declamation was so insincere. Something is fishy.
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"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others." ~ Bertrand Russell
Here's how I imagine the conversation went with her staff.
SARAH: Good mornin' staffers. I hope y'all are ready and rarin' to get to work.
ATLAS: Hey boss. We've been talking, and we think we have an idea about how to increase your chances in 2012 like we talked about last night.
SARAH: Oh yeah? Shoot. I'm just rarin' to get back out there on that campaign trial, donchaknow. Hey, you don't think these ethics hearings will hurt all that now, do ya?
ALGEBRA: No ma'am. This idea that Atlas and Candle came up with solves that problem. It's a sure thing and so far out of the box you'll have peoples' heads spinning.
SARAH: Oh, you know I like that. Give it to me, Atlas. (BLANKET enters the office, late as usual.) Oh, high Blanket, so sorry to hear about your father there. He was an inspiration to so many...oh, it wasn't your father? There's another Blanket? Oh. I thought since you were...oh nevermind. Have a seat, there.
ATLAS: Governor, we think you should resign.
SARAH: Resign? How does that help me in 2012?
CANDLE: Because you can claim you're doing it to "save the state" and because the leftist media is beating up on you and your family. It's a sure fire way to fire up the base and get them in your camp early. It's a sure thing!
SARAH: Hmmm, yeah. I can see that! Yeah, I think you're on to something, there, youbetcha. Does everyone agree with this?
TOM: No, ma'am. I don't.
SARAH: Oh, Tom...you're such a fuddyduddy. OK, well, when should I do this? Next week? Wait for the holiday to pass?
BLOCK: No, we think you should do it TODAY.
SARAH: TODAY?! Oh my...I don't know. Isn't it kinda soon and all?
ATLAS: Nope. Do it today. It's a slow news day and you'll get all the air time. Then tomorrow we can go to the Tea Party in Anchorage and prove how conservative we are by pointing out how much money you'll be saving the state.
SARAH: OK. Sounds like a humdinger. I'll write the speech now.
TOM: Ma'am, shouldn't you let me write the speech for you?
SARAH: Hahahahahaha! Tom, you're so funny there in your suit and tie all buttoned up. Of course you shouldn't write MY speech. I'm the one givin' it, afterall, donchaknow. Nah, I'll write it nice and quick here and we'll give the press conference in, what, an hour and a half? Super!
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This message has been edited by Baheritone on Jul 4, 2009 11:06 AM
A few years ago Tom Cruise let go his professional PR people and handlers and turned that job over to his sister and all of a sudden he looked like he'd gone nuts. Probably he was always nuts but he had people who knew how to present him.
This year it looks like Republicans do not have any professional handlers. Did they fire them? Did they flee? The SC Gov's press conference was weird and rambling too. Governors and Senators have staff precisely to keep this kind of thing from happening. So did those people flee? Get fired? Or are they just being ignored?
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
It is possible that she got a diagnosis of metastasized cancer or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease -- my dentist was diagnosed with this when he was about her age) or some other deadly condition and doesn't want the public to know about it until she is out of office and can spend the rest of her days with her family.
Just a possibility to bear in mind.
Baritonobasso
"The students are overstimulated. Willie, remove all the colored chalk from the classrooms!"
I have never made any secret about the fact that I LOATHE that woman. She offends me on so many levels that I don't have time to even summarize.
I can't say for sure that she is resigning to avoid scandal or to save the efforts required to fight off the allegations. To be honest, she does not seem to have cared much for avoiding the situations in the first place, so it sounds like nonsense to me. My NSHO is that someone told her that one of these accusations (or one still to come) would end poorly, so get out of the line of fire for a while and then try again later.
What kills me is that the republican party keeps talking about her for 2012. Did no one notice that she killed McCain's run? Bueller? Bueller? All differences in opinion aside, WHY WHY WHY would you want someone so stupid to front your party? First W and now Palin. Does it not occure to the GOP that having imbeciles as your leaders does not add much respectability to either your party or your ideals?
So, my grandma Reynolds was always saying 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' I wish she was still alive, because I'd really like to ask her what she suggests for when life gives you Chlamydia. -Veronica Mars
not from commentators (who even on the far wingnut right have more sense than this) but from people who post online...they still are clinging on to the idea that McCain lost because he wasn't conservative enough. Of course these area also people who believe that Obama was born in Kenya and all sorts of other conspiracy nonsense. But there are more people like this than you would think. Not a majority of Republicans I suppose but a good chunk of the "base" that we hear so much about. Anyone seeking the nomination in 2012 or 2016 cannot afford to offend or alienate these people and that's a huge problem for the GOP.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
"They still are clinging on to the idea that McCain lost because he wasn't conservative enough."
Yup. That's the true believer for you.
By the way, here are some comments recently made by Bill Maher, which I transcribed from a video (here):
"People talk a lot about a third political party in America. We don't need a third party; we need a first party. You go to the polls and your choices are the guy who voted for the first Wall Street bailout or the guy who voted for the next ten. This week, we're hearing that a public option for health care is unlikely because it doesn't have the support of enough -- Democrats! Even Ted Kennedy's plan -- Ted Kennedy, yeah -- leaves 37 million uninsured. This is because we don't have a left and a right party in this country anymore. We have a center-right party and a crazy party. And over the last thirty-odd years, Democrats have moved to the right, and the right has moved to a mental hospital. So what we have is one perfectly good party for hedge-fund managers, credit-card companies, banks, defense contractors, big agriculture, and the pharmaceutical lobby -- that's the Democrats; and they sit across the aisle from a small group of religious lunatics, flat-earthers, and Civil-War reenactors who mostly communicate by AM radio and call themselves the Republicans, and who actually worry that Obama is a socialist."
Baritonobasso
"The students are overstimulated. Willie, remove all the colored chalk from the classrooms!"
So, my grandma Reynolds was always saying 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' I wish she was still alive, because I'd really like to ask her what she suggests for when life gives you Chlamydia. -Veronica Mars
It's why I laugh at people who think Obama is the far left. That's hilarious. The Democrats are the center right party. If you are looking for a moderate party, we got one.
There is no left in America. Oh yeah Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders and maybe Dennis Kucinich. That's about it and none of those people are all that powerful. It's just right-wing paranoia that has people terrified of the idea of insuring all the children so they don't die while their parents figure out how to afford a doctor visit.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
if only because the WORD "socialist" strikes knee-jerk-reaction fear into the heart of many, to whom it means "Soviet-style, line-up-for-your-dinner, Mother Russia communist".
Oy.
When people are afraid of SWEDEN as a political model because of it's "socialism" (and yes, I have heard this), you know it's a mess. I mean really - who wouldn't be terrified of great medicine, a fabulous education system and an extremely high standard of living? That's scary stuff, man. /sarcasm
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"If you only look at what you left behind youll never be able to focus on what lies ahead." - Gusteau
that the scariest thing they say about national health care (which isn't even going to come up for a vote) is that bureaucrats will make decisions about their health care. Really? What the hell kind of insurance do people have that they never have to fight with the insurance company to get them to pay, where they can see any doctor or have any prescription or treatment covered, no questions asked? Seriously, because I really would like to know.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
I WISH we had a far left party. Not because I'd vote for it (I'm a European-style moderate which despite American perceptions is NOT far left!), but because having a party that's further left might restore some balance to the entire system.
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"If you only look at what you left behind youll never be able to focus on what lies ahead." - Gusteau
The GOP will never, ever cater to those people. Know why? Many of the same "conspiracy theorists" also believe in the crazy notion that most of the big-league politicians, Republican & Democrat, line up behind the central bank, aka the Federal Reserve who wield their unlimited checkbooks to keep them in office. Why do you think both parties supported the bank bailouts? The Reserve is intricately tied to the big banks and investment firms, like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, who are in turn tied to the Presidential cabinet. No, it's not all a conspiracy, but there is a hell of a lot of corporatism and cronyism going on that many people are catching on to. We have some real gangster style shit going down.
Of course McCain wasn't conservative enough, but that's not why he lost. He lost because people who see through the CNN, MSNBC & FOX bullshit propaganda understood that he didn't offer any kind of change whatsoever. Conservatives (not the Hannity neocons) want real change. Not marketing campaign slogans, but changes in the way the government is run and its accountability to the voters and what it can get away with. It's fairly evident now that Washington would rather sink the ship and take us down with it rather than look at its problems objectively and try to solve them for the greater good.
Palin and Sanford are being weeded out of the playing field by the media in order to pave the way for 2012 candidates the GOP knows will support the status quo. Sanford made a big deal about opposing the bailouts in SC, so obviously he's too Conservative. Palin I'm not so sure about. She might not be "DC insider" enough being way the hell out in Alaska, and might try & actually restrict the growth of government. God knows we can't do that. Because we're at such a tipping point in the economy, DC is all about self preservation at this point.
Sanford got so carried away with his clandestine affair that he left the state without anyone knowing where he was. He left the country. Sorry, no, that's just not going to fly. I don't care who people have sex with but if you can't manage your personal business without it interfering with doing your job (especially extracurricular personal business) then you don't deserve this or any job. This would be acceptable in any job.
Palin is up to her neck in a corruption scandal and is probably about to be indicted. She's a crook. She's also an idiot.
Personally I think the GOP's best bet is someone who espouses the viewpoint you talk about. I'm not saying that person will win (not having a crystal ball or anything) but they will do better than a Huckabee type who is all about having their noses in everyone else's bedroom. But the religious right is now the main voting block in the base of the party and no one can get the nomination without kissing their asses. Sorry Rudy and probably Mitt too. There is no conspiracy to get rid of Sanford and Palin. They did a pretty good job of destroying their own careers all on their own. (Palin should never have been taken seriously in the first place. She was just the McCain campaign's Hail Mary play.)
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
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Those who are too weak to follow their own dreams will always find a way to discourage others.
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Well she can't hope to be a credible candidate for higher office if ...
July 6 2009, 10:02 AM
Well she really can't hope to become a credible candidate for any higher office if she can't take the heat of being governor in Alaska and a little post-election political rough housing.
I mean if she couldn't hack this then no one in their right mind, even a conservative who thinks she is sexy, can make a case for her for president or something.
I think it would just now be sooo easy to mow her down on that one point alone.
Of course maybe if she comes back after several years when she can really make the necessary commitment she might be able to start from scratch.
Hopefully she'll find out it's easier now to just be a celebrity or something and leave politics alone for while.
"What looked like a secret wedding turned out to be a public unraveling as the G.O.P. implosion continued: Sarah wanted everyone to know that shes not having fun and people are being mean to her and she doesnt feel like finishing her first term as governor."
I think that about sums it up.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.
after reading tons of right wing blogs over the weekend (yanno for laughs) is how many people seem to think she's a viable candidate for president in 2012. That said, I wonder how many of those are serious. I get a sense from a lot of these people that they don't so much like or agree with people like Palin or Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh so much as they like to cheer on anyone who gets under liberals' skin. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
I realize Palin offends some people and I get that. (Mika had an interesting insight on Morning Joe today, not so much valid in the Palin case but about what happens to women in the media in general.*) But honestly I kind of like having people like Palin around to laugh at. I know this makes me a bad person but if they all disappear who will we crack jokes about?
*(note: Mika's comment was that in the public arena women are too often plucked out of obscurity far too early, put on a stage with little or no preparation, savaged by the critics, and then dismissed as not being up to the challenge. This is especially true in the news media where men are expected to be a little older to sit at the table but women are often in their late 20s and just not experienced enough. Men wouldn't fare that well under those circumstances either. Watch Fox sometimes (not that I wish that on anyone but sometimes it's on somewhere). One sixty year old letchy looking man surrounded what would appear to be waitresses from Hooters.)
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
the sooner she is plunged back into obscurity the better
July 6 2009, 10:27 AM
I hope we never hear from her again after the resignation goes into effect. I think she is the sorriest excuse for a politician/statesperson I have ever seen. The scariest thing about it, like you said, is that even after quitting as governor people still think she is a viable candidate for President. Give me a break. Even if one agrees with her politics and doesn't think she is an idiot, one would have to admit that it was not a wise move, nor does it show much consistency to step down from being a governor before your term is up, giving no clear or rational reason.
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