I'm not sure what to make of Sarah Palin's announcement today that she will not serve out her term as Governor of Alaska. The vast majority of the reactions I've read have been unfavorable to one degree or another, which doesn't exactly surprise me. My initial reaction, after WHAT?, was also unfavorable. But after reading a transcript of her remarks I think I'll take a more neutral stance for the moment. This may, in the long run, be the right thing for her to do for a couple of reasons.
I would have liked to see Palin get another year and a half of executive experience, but that may have proved more detrimental to her than anything else. Her enemies in both parties clearly see her as a threat and have continued to hammer away at her even now when the election has been over for eight months. Aside from frivolous, but expensive and time-consuming, ethics complaints, the nasty little bastards would spin anything that goes wrong in Alaska as her fault and credit anything that goes right to someone else. That happens to all politicians to some extent, but I think it happens to Sarah Palin to an extraordinary degree that someone like a Tim Pawlenty, for example, never gets. It is so extreme, I think, that it negates any benefits that Palin would accrue by finishing her term.
Palin also needs to spend some time building her political philosophy and national party credentials. Her detractors would never let her do that effectively as a sitting governor. If she would have attended and sat in on a large number of events or panels, they would caw that she wasn't fulfilling her duties as governor. If she didn't, they would caw that she was lazy or stupid. Now she can work on that with whatever level of initiative she wants, unconstrained by official duties.
Some right wing pundits have already written Palin off today in a knee-jerk fashion. I think that's a mistake. I also think that it's a mistake to assume that what she is doing is with 2012 in mind. My take is one of wait and see. I don't think Palin had the experience to be president last year, but then I thought the same thing about Barack Obama, and still do. And then there's Joe Biden, any reasonable person's third if you want to make that a three-way race...but I digress. I think Palin would do well to use the next few years to build credibility within her party to be a viable vice-presidential candidate in 2012, not presidential. Most important though, is not to build a candidacy, but a solid philosophical record that will make that candidacy a realistic option when the time is right for it. Now who else followed that path?
Huh, it's right on the tip of my tongue.
If people don't have her to kick around anymore. . . who's the next target? Any guesses?
Posted by: Kate P | July 03, 2009 at 08:33 PM
Oh, they'll still hammer on Palin for now and even after the effective date of her resignation. They fear her that much, and I've thought about that a lot, it really is fear I think. They just won't be able to leverage her official position against her and her family after that.
Who's next? I would say general attack mode right now. They will soon be in defensive mode as the economy and the public in general, I hate to say, fails to respond. Or more accurately, responds with FAIL. The BS is going to get thick, and soon the last of their worries will be Sarah Palin. For now.
I'm not wishing that misery on me and everyone else, but I think it will happen. Nor do I think it's guaranteed that Palin won't flub it. She very well might. We'll find out.
Posted by: Dave E. | July 03, 2009 at 09:06 PM
I just heard this on the news. At first I was surprised, but then I realized this would likely be the best thing she could have done if she wants to broaden her political service. As governor, no matter what she did, she was going to catch hell. As McCain's running mate, I guess I'm pretty perverse in that I enjoyed the fact she made so many uncomfortable. It's a good sign that she has something of significance to offer. We'll just have to wait and see if she'll be able to contribute on a larger platform in the near future.
Posted by: Da Goddess | July 03, 2009 at 09:42 PM
I was surprised too, Da Goddess, and I don't think you were perverse to enjoy the discomfort of so many hypocrites. Palin is by no means a perfect politician or leader, but who is, and just how bad is she compared to her many critics' similar claims? The abuse she and her family has taken over the last 10 months has said more about many of her critics than her I think.
Posted by: Dave E. | July 03, 2009 at 10:14 PM
I think neutral is overly optimistic. Palin is Roberto Duran saying, "No mas". The media, her opponents, and the voters will never let that go. I doubt she'll ever shake the "quitter" label. It's been done before but I don't think it's possible today. The damage is done and I believe it to be irreparable.
As for the amount of scrutiny she gets, I believe a good bit of that now is self-inflicted. Had she gone back to Alaska and resumed her duties as governor, the hoopla surrounding her would have died down soon enough. She didn't do that, though. She chose to remain a player in national politics, touring the country, giving speeches, granting interviews, first declining an invitation then upstaging GOP party players at GOP party events, and signing book deals.
Posted by: Rob | July 04, 2009 at 01:00 PM
We'll see, Rob. I don't think the full story has unfolded yet, though I'm not going to speculate on what may drop in the next few weeks. And at this point I'm inclined to be charitable to Palin just because of the way the media tore after her and gave Obama and Biden 1/10th of that sort of treatment, if that. We'll see what happens.
Posted by: Dave E. | July 04, 2009 at 03:55 PM
My mother is speculating that she's going to need to earn some money (speaking tour?) because of having to defend herself against all the frivolous suits that have been brought. She also thinks that her becoming a spokesperson for conservatism is maybe the best role for her right now. I think my dad still holds out hope she'll run for higher office in 2012.
Me? I don't know, but I do know if I were in her shoes I would have thrown in the towel long ago. The media has gotten way too mean...families used to be off-limits but that seems to no longer be the case.
I'm afraid that good people will cease to go into politics because they will conclude if the media or incumbents don't like the "threat" they present, there will be unreasonably great amounts of mudslinging and attacks. And few people have the stomach for that sort of thing over the long term.
Posted by: ricki | July 05, 2009 at 04:02 PM
I think it was a balance sheet thing, ricki. The advantages to staying in office, for her and Alaska, versus the disadvantages for both. I don't think that Democrats, local and national, were ever going to let up on her and it just didn't make sense to continue. Maybe. I don't think I've ever seen a politician treated so shabbily by so many supposedly tolerant and "good-hearted" people.
Posted by: Dave E. | July 05, 2009 at 07:04 PM