I guess Mrs. Palin had sympathy for Michael Jackson’s family. I come home and it seems like everything in my Google Reader is about Sarah Palin. There is plenty of speculation about why she is resigning.
I have seen arguments that her resigning the governorship will not hurt her presidential chances in 2012, and I have seen arguments that her chances for the presidency are now finished. I would tend to agree with the latter. I do not see someone winning the presidency when opponents can point and say “quitter.”
Time will tell.
I have never been a fan of Sarah Palin. But I can see how she did well in Alaska. And I can see how she may have been good for Alaska. Alaska has 571,951.26 square miles and a population of 686,293 for a density of 1.19 people per square mile. Plus, the state has large quantities of natural resources. Residents do not pay state taxes, they get a check from the state for their share of the natural resource profits! (that’s socialism if anyone cares).
Given those facts, how much state government do Alaskans need? Very little. Palin’s ideology is minimal government. A perfect fit.
When Palin was picked as McCain’s VP candidate, I had two problems with her. I did not agree with her ideology and she was not prepared to deal with the issues of the country at large. Yes, she had her idealogy and she had what she knew to do for Alaska, but she clearly had not given the issues of the country as a whole much thought. I would want the VP to have spent a bit more time thinking about Iraq, Afganistan, Israel, and Iran; health care, recessions, bubbles, and fed policy than can be done in a six month cram session while furiously traveling the country campaigning.
I have no idea of what her plans are. And I wish her well. But if she is planning to run for president in 2012 or 2016, I hope she uses the interim time to become familiar with the issues that a president may have to deal with so she can discuss them without so much reliance on conservative boilerplate.