Former Governor Sarah Palin?
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has the political world reeling with her surprise resignation of the governorship on Friday from her Wasilla, AK home. Many conservatives, myself included, were in shock and disbelief after hearing the news. I was about to board a plane when I received a frantic text message from my younger sister: “Sarah Palin resigned!!” A quick Google SMS search returned no results, so I texted back, “Are you sure?!” As you may have gathered from my posts, I’m a huge Palin fan, and I was worried such a move would ruin the former VP-nominee’s future political chances.
Later that night and into the next morning, when I’d had a chance to read the transcript of her presser, I began to understand her reasoning. The fact is, no matter what she tried to do for Alaska, she would be unfairly brutalized by the press. Her effectiveness in Alaska ended after her McCain handlers forced her to continue the retched Couric interviews way back in the fall of 2008. She needed a chance to take a step back and regain control of her own public image, to give the American people, and the only way to do that was to cut her losses and leave elected office to travel the lower 48 (edit 1) to fill her rightful role as an independent leader of the conservative movement.
In recent days, Gov. Palin has been dropping hints of working toward a “higher political calling” and talked about how she feels she can do a better job helping the people of Alaska and the nation, along with conservative candidates, outside of the governor’s office.
So don’t lose heart, America! Sarah is just being Sarah and taking risks and wild leaps of faith no one else would dare do. She’s not leaving politics, she’s just following a different path. Will she run for Senate, write her book, or jump on the speaking circuit? Who knows? What I do know is anyone who counts her out is simply afraid of who she is and what she can become.
P.S. Don’t forget about SarahPAC! I’m guessing once Palin’s thrown off the restraints of public office, we’ll see her political action committee spring into even more abundant life.
