Analyst says Palin could be done with politics
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to step down during her first term could signal that she's done with elective office, a Virginia political analyst says.
"You shouldn't dismiss that possibility if she's fed up, and that came across at the press conference," the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato said last night.
If she does plan future campaigns, Sabato thinks Palin has made a major error. "This will prove very useful to her opponent -- she's up and quit the only statewide office she's ever held, in midterm. That's not much of a qualification if you're running for president," Sabato said.
"The Harry Truman rule applies: 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' Once you're out of the kitchen it's hard to get back in."
Palin campaigned in Virginia four times last year as the running mate of Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
"Bob McDonnell is sure this was a very tough decision for Governor Palin and her family," said Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Virginia's Republican gubernatorial nominee, who served as co-chairman of the McCain-Palin campaign in Virginia.
"He wishes Governor Palin the very best as she moves forward. He is certain she will continue to play a prominent and positive role in American politics in the years ahead," Martin said.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement that Palin is "an important and galvanizing voice" in the GOP and will help the party's gubernatorial candidates this fall in Virginia and New Jersey, according to The Washington Post.
Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the Republican Party of Virginia, said, "We wish her luck on her future endeavors and think there's little doubt that she will have an impact on policy discussions in the future."
Palin campaigned with McCain on Sept. 10 at Van Dyck Park in Fairfax City. On Oct. 13, Palin joined McCain in Virginia Beach for a rally, then appeared solo before a crowd estimated at 20,000 in a field at Richmond International Raceway.
On Oct. 27, she held rallies in Leesburg, Fredericksburg and Salem, and stopped by a gourmet deli in Ashland.
On Nov. 1, an estimated 8,000 McCain-Palin supporters spent Saturday night at the Deep Run High School football field to back the GOP ticket in western Henrico.
Contact Andrew Cain at (804) 649-6645 or
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Staff writer Frank Green contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
Confused political pundits like Sabato need to stop guessing and forget about how many degrees they have because in the real world money talks and “bull crap” walks.
Do the math. Palin left because at $125,000 a year salary and avg of $250,000 a year in legal bills from frivolous ethics complaints, that’s a net loss.
She didn’t quit. It was a business decision. All you whiny Palin detractors, go get a job where you lose money and see if you quit!
Excellent news that Palin will come to Virginia to campaign for McDonnell. She will really help him steal swing voters away from Deeds.
I’ll say one thing for Sarah Palin,she has got the media falling all over themselves because she got the jump on them just like she did when she first arrived on the scene.
They were livid then and they are apopletic now.
No chance to dissect and judge and most importantly take sides.
She left them all in the dust once again.
They are turning their mercenary little minds inside out trying to be the get the scoop on WHY she has done this.
Is there a big scandal brewing?
Is it a brilliant political strategy or a dead-end bid for public sympathy?
Is she “nutty putty” as Ms. Dowd of the NYT put it so kindly?
None of them have a clue. And it is driving them crazy.
If she never does another thing in her public life this was worth the entrance fee.
All the members of the Sarah Palin Derangement Syndrome Club take a deep breath and prepare to exhale.
I think she’s tired of the media, and living under the microscope
She quit the governor’s job so she can run for president—president of RUSSIA. (She can see it from her house, remember?) Actually, there’s nothing wrong with resigning as governor. (Got that, Mr. Sanford?)
jimboo8, just because the truth is inconvenient for your political ideology, doesn’t mean it’s misinformation.
Please Sarah, go away and stay away!
You are only likeable by the right wing loonies of which you are one! You can dish it out but you can’t take it!
CWB717 – Obama should appoint you to fill his newly established position as Commissar of Disinformation – you seem so perfectly qualified!
So, Sarah Palin is leaving office after only part of her first term. She was mayor of some town, too - didn’t leave that one. But this bothers Larry Sabato? Does it bother the man that we have a president who never held a true position of responsibility in his life? Doubt it.
Greta, I thought we were done here. But apparently not. Bush still said to go about your daily lives, including shopping. That was not the attitude in the country at the time. People wanted to mobilize, wanted to contribute, wanted to act on the events of 9-11, the deadliest day in American history since the Civil War. What were we told to do, basically nothing, just go about your daily routine. Being told, almost like a police officer saying “Move along, nothing to see hear.“
And you want to make accusations of being opportunistic, at the very moment Bush was making that speech people in his White House were already planning how to use 9-11 as an excuse to invade Iraq, something the Neo-cons had been pinning for since the Clinton administration. On the evening of 9-11 Karl Rove was already advising the President how that tragic event could be used as a political weapon to push through certain policies. Don Rumsfeld complained that Iraq should not be off the table because “there are not enough good targets in Afghanistan”. NSA Rice and Dick Cheney were traveling the country fear mongering about “the smoking gun of a mushroom cloud over an American city”, and doing nothing to dispel the mistaken belief of many Americans that Saddam was involved in 9-11. If I may paraphrase your comments, Bush took us down the yellow brick road to a preemptive war, built upon false pretenses, based in political ideology, that has cost over 100,000 Iraqi lives, nearly 5,000 American lives, created over 2 million refugees…and a “financial OZ” costing in the trillions. So I guess it’s better to spend money on killing Iraqi’s for no reason than to spend the same amount of money in America to help a failing infrastructure. But at least Halliburton made a ton of cash.
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