Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has defied political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early. --PHOTO: AP
WASILLA (Alaska) - EVEN for a non-conformist, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has defied political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early.
MEGHAN Stapleton, Mrs Palin's personal spokeswoman, shot down speculation that ranged wildly from Mrs Palin dropping out of politics altogether to eyeing runs against fellow Alaska Republicans Rep. Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Mrs Palin's comment about serving outside government refers to the present, she said.
Ms Stapleton, however, said it's too early to say whether Mrs Palin would seek the presidency. In the meantime, the governor will continue to work to bring 'positive change as a citizen without a title right now,' she said.
Supporters and critics alike say the former Republican vice presidential candidate's resignation, announced on Friday afternoon and effective July 26, is an inexplicable move for a high profile Republican widely seen as a contender for a White House run in 2012.
A half-term governor campaigning for president? 'If she is thinking that leaving her term 16 months early is going to help her prepare to maybe go on to bigger and better things on the political stage, I think she's sadly mistaken. You just can't quit,' said Andrew Halcro, a Palin critic who lost the 2006 gubernatorial race to her.
Mrs Palin's abrupt announcement on Friday rattled the Republican Party but left open the possibility of a presidential run. She and her staff are keeping mum on her future plans. Her spokesman, David Murrow, said the governor didn't say anything to him about this being her 'political finale.'
'She's looking forward to serving the public outside the governor's chair,' he said.
And Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Mrs Palin's political action committee, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, which saw an uptick in contributions on Friday afternoon.
The announcement caught even current and former Palin advisers by surprise. Former members of Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign team, now dispersed across the country, traded perplexed e-mails and phone calls about the vice presidential nominee's decision to step down.
In a hastily arranged news conference at her home in Wasilla, a suburb of Anchorage, Mrs Palin said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had 1.5 years left to her term. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will take her place.
'Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road,' Mrs Palin said. 'They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that.'
Mrs Palin has proven formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was really prepared for the presidency. The backbiting continued with follow-up articles elsewhere recounting the nasty infighting that plagued her failed bid. Her advisers sniped with other Republicans, underscoring the deeply divided Republican Party looking for its next standard bearer. -- AP
