"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sarah Palin Resigns
I know some of you aren't fans, but this is disappointing for me. I hope she's not doing it (can't imagine this would be a good move) because she wants to concentrate on doing something crazy like running for President.
I often wonder if she wouldn't have been better served to have refused the McCain invitation last year and just remained Governor for another term or two. That would have gotten her past the family drama that was hitting right around that time as well. She could have bided her time, built a reputation, and run for, say, the Senate or something, to get some national cred.
She could have been a contender. Not anymore, I don't think.
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Comments on "Sarah Palin Resigns":
2. Bird
- 07/03/2009 4:52 pm CDT
2012 is going to be fun. I think she'll run and probably get whacked in the primaries.
There's probably a personal reason for her resignation (as Andrew said on his blog). While presidential campaigns start early these days, three years is pushing it a bit.
3. Wickle
- 07/03/2009 8:45 pm CDT
I can't say that I'm a fan of hers, but I can't imagine that she's foolish enough to resign in order to run for President this early. Having failed to complete even one term in office makes her resume pretty weak for the White House.
Granted, that's exactly what I said about the current occupant, but I don't expect lightning to strike twice.
4. Quaid
- 07/04/2009 9:17 am CDT
She'll have to do some major tweaking to her image, or Bird is right on about getting whacked in the primaries.
She does well with most hard-line conservatives, but I think liberals tend to have more respect for GWB than her (which, obviously, isn't saying much). They'll fight back a lot harder against her than if Pawlenty or that Rep from VA (Cantor?) emerges as a leading candidate.
I think that a run for Senate is what she really ought to focus on not necessarily to build cred, but to get some experience and build relationships with other leaders who can vouch for her legitimacy. She's kind of on an island right now.
5. Quaid
- 07/04/2009 9:27 am CDT
It looks like the Republican Senator from AK is up for re-election next year. Maybe Palin will fight for that (she better hurry up).
She'd run against the daughter of the governor she vanquished, Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski was appointed to the vacated position by her father almost immediately after he gained office in 2002. She later won a re-election bid in 2004.
She, like Palin, has suffered some ethics scandals. She, unlike Palin, was found guilty of the ethics violations. I think it would be a good fight. If Palin can't win that, she shouldn't even be on the national stage.
The question is whether or not Alaskans would vote for her KNOWING that she was using the office only has a stepping stone for a Presidential candidacy. I think she believes that she can do what BO did.
I suppose we'll see.
Speaking of 2012, it's obvious that Romney will run again - what do you think his chances will be? Don't you think the drawback of his candidacy was his Mormonism? (That and his mannequin stylings?) Those aren't going away, I don't think.
6. Bird
- 07/04/2009 11:04 am CDT
Quaid, on a non-related note, thought you might be interested in this ... I'll get a chance to meet Mike Huckabee in September. He's the keynote speaker at a local pro-life function here in Waco, and I'm going to be the official photographer. ;-)
7. jen
- 07/04/2009 11:07 am CDT
She mentioned working "outside" - that's Alaska speak for the lower 48 states. I took that statement to mean that she'll be working for the party outside of Alaska, if she stays in politics.
8. Bob Sacamento
- 07/04/2009 1:59 pm CDT
I was disappointed to hear she is resigning too. I wish someone would tell what the reason is. I'm not enough of a political strategist to know whether this is a good move or not, but if she doesn't make her reasons public very soon, it will be disastrous. Nobody likes questions in a candidate.
As for Romney, his Mormonism was an issue only with a very small slice of the conservative electorate. His real baggage with conservatives was that he looked like an opportunistic flip-flopper. A sort of Bizzaro World John Kerry. If he will spend the next few years carrying water for the conservative causes he claims to have embraced, he can maybe overcome this. But he had better get with it.
10. The Ancient Mariner
- 07/05/2009 5:44 pm CDT
IMHO, what she's doing here makes brilliant political sense--it's a gamble, but probably the best one she had open. This isn't the end of her political career, but the beginning of a new phase. Is this about running for 2012? Not necessarily; I get the sense that she has the next step or two in view and is looking to see what develops and what God opens up for her. But this frees her to write, to speak, to campaign for the GOP candidates in the NJ and VA gubernatorial races this fall if she chooses to and for congressional candidates next year . . . and from there, if 2012 is setting up well, she can go for it, and if not, she can knock off Mark Begich in 2014 and wait for a better opportunity. She won't run against Murkowski next year--she'll honor her pledge to campaign for Murkowski, as she'll campaign for Sean Parnell (who will now be running in 2010 on his own record as an incumbent, which is one of the political gains for Gov. Palin by this move), as she'll probably be campaigning for GOP folks all over the place.
Plus, now she can do what she needs to do to raise the money to pay off her legal bills from all those screwy bogus ethics complaints. That's no small thing; given the size of those bills, and the unlikelihood of folks like Linda Kellen Biegel and Andree McLeod folding their tents and going home, I don't think staying in Juneau much longer was financially tenable for the Palins; she would have had to declare bankruptcy to finish her term.
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I disagree. Palin is steadily on the national stage. She upstaged Newt Gingrich at a Republican function last month. I think that her decision shows some integrity. She has been traveling to these big national events, presumably on the state's dime, which tends to make the locals angry. Now she can concentrate on the national stage, not to run for president, because I don't think that she would win, but to refocus a conservative base that is fed up with RINOS like McCain, who came out last week and said that Obama has done a fantastic job as president.