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Sarah Palin lacks what the GOP needs most The Republicans need a White House candidate with ideas, steadiness and the ability to unify. That's not Alaska's departing governor. Doyle McManus July 5, 2009 Is Sarah Palin the answer the Republican Party is looking for? Not likely. Palin's abrupt announcement that she's quitting as governor of Alaska may be part of a long-term strategy that leads to the Oval Office. But at the moment, it looks more like the impulsive act of a hot-headed politician who can't abide criticism -- poor attributes for anyone who hopes to run for president. Take...

Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska was greeted with doubts, criticism and downright derision -- not just from Democrats or the media or bloggers, but from Republicans. Critical responses to her decision came from many Republican insiders -- not just people who have an axe to grind such as Mike Huckabee and Lisa Murkowski, but others such as Karl Rove. That followed criticism of Palin just before her announcement from Charles Krauthammer and Jonah Goldberg. When talking off the record, Republican insiders are even harsher toward Palin, as Marc Ambinder notes: With a few exceptions, almost every...

Bashing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is sport for many journalists, particularly those who are perhaps bored by the summer doldrums. "She is by far the best-looking woman ever to rise to such heights in national politics, the first indisputably fertile female to dare to dance with the big dogs," writes Todd Purdum in the August issue of Vanity Fair. He coins the term "polar disorder," concluding that Mrs. Palin is surrounded by "clouds of tabloid conflict and controversy" and "has disappointed many of those who once had the highest hopes for her." Yeah, yeah. Enough already. Mrs. Palin is not...

The response to Sarah Palin's surprise resignation last Friday clearly reveals the limitations of the American political class, right, left, or what have you. There's an old academic joke, probably apocryphal, about Count Metternich, Austria's foreign minister during the Napoleonic era. While attending the Congress of Vienna, Metternich is sleeping off a banquet when one of his aides bursts in at three in the morning. "Your excellency! Count Nesselrode, the Russian ambassador, just died." Metternich jerks awake. "Died, you say? What a terrible thing! I was speaking to him only tonight... Uhh... send a message to the Tsar -- Austria...

What a shock that Maureen Dowd devoted her New York Times column Sunday to attack Sarah Palin. It did not so much criticize Alaska's governor for prematurely stepping down from her official duties as to finish off what sister snipers Katie Couric and Tina Fey began last fall. The assassination of Sarah Palin - by media. For those who didn't pay attention, Mrs. Palin's unexpected stratospheric rise as a national political figure threatened the media's preordained presidency of Barack Obama. In light of how the Obama machine took down Hillary Clinton, which unsettled many feminists who believed 2008 was their...

Soon the Republican party will have no choice but to make Mitt Romney its leader. We've seen a suspiciously steady trickle of losers quietly exiting the ranks of 2012 hopefuls -- Bobby Jindal with his disastrous State of the Union rebuttal; John Ensign and Mark Sanford with their affairs; and most recently, Sarah Palin's bizarre resignation from the Alaska governorship. The only candidates left are Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty and Romney. If history is any guide, we should expect some foul disclosure out of the Huckabee camp any day now. You just can't get away with saying something like this...

I’m confused by all the confusion among the chattering classes about Palin. I thought her press conference explained it very clearly – though she couldn’t put it precisely this way without sounding vain, but it’s obvious. Even though she’s just a state governor, she’s a HUGE national star who is both sought after and attacked as if she is already a president (a Bush, not an Obama). But she basically can’t participate because she’s tethered to the governor’s office up in Alaska. Consequently, she has to fight with one hand tied behind her back and she also can’t go around...

I pretty well nailed Governor Palin’s strategy when she announced. Today there is little doubt to what she intends to do: “I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint,” the former Republican vice presidential candidate wrote in a posting on her Facebook page. Palin’s spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, confirmed Palin wrote the entry. One thing I did forget to mention in the previous post which is clear today - Palin is going to shove as much crow down as...

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum joined Chuck Todd, filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, to discuss his recent article on Sarah Palin.

Rush Limbaugh Comments on Sarah Palin's Resignation  July 5, 2009  BEGIN TRANSCRIPTRUSH: This is Rush. I’m on a golf vacation, parts unknown, all week long. Six cities, six courses, starting today. On this Palin business, you know, one of the reasons I haven’t said anything to anybody is I don’t know what this means – and I think all of this is just speculation. We don’t know what her reasons for doing this are yet. The speculation here and the predictions here rival some of the irresponsibility I saw with people speculating on the cause of death of Michael Jackson when...

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin made her own declaration of independence yesterday by announcing that she's resigning as governor of Alaska. It was another gutsy and smart move on her part that has confounded the experts and has many writing her political obituary. I believe it's just wishful thinking on their part and these folks have no clue what just hit them. Since Sen. John McCain chose her to run as his vice-president she, her family, and her staff have been through the wringer as opponents have turned over every rock in hopes of taking her down. Every time she sneezed...

It's not clear why Sarah Palin resigned her position as governor of Alaska, but it must have been for one of the following reasons: (1) there is a scandal that would have made her position as governor untenable, (2) she couldn't take the heat that was coming her way, or (3) she concluded that it was in her best interests to do something other than fulfill the duties associated with the position the voters of Alaska entrusted to her. In all three scenarios, Palin is unfit for high office, and certainly unfit to be the vice president or the president...

Of all the reactions to Sarah Palin's Friday morning press conference, the most common by far is bafflement followed by gentle and not-so-gentle mockery. Those who've long since deemed Palin a criminally incompetent Lady Macbeth were delighted to see her crash and burn. Sensing some kind of ulterior motive, one emerging narrative is that she is abandoning ship before some messy ethics violation is revealed in an effort to preserve her 2012 presidential viability. One outlandish theory I've toyed with is that she intends to build a new life as an evangelical super-celebrity, the tough-but-loving mother of a large Christian...

As I was watching Sarah Palin these past weeks, even before her surprise announcement that she was stepping down as Governor of Alaska – to do what, exactly? – something kept nagging at me. What did she remind me of? Finally I figured it out: She's the Fatal Attraction of the Republican party. In the movie, Glenn Close plays an attractive and seductive woman with whom the married Michael Douglas character has a vigorous fling, never dreaming she is so loopy she will end up stalking him and his family. In one horrifying scene, Ms. Close's character boils the family...

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor, and FNC contributor, Bill Kristol predicted Sarah Palin’s path to the White House in 2012. He predicted that Palin would become a leader of conservatives, the leader of the GOP, and then president, just like Obama did. According to Kristol, Palin is just like Obama. Here is the video courtesy of Think Progress: (VIDEO AT LINK) Kristol said, "Barack Obama ran for Senate in 2004, was elected to the Senate and the moment he was sworn in began running for president of the United States. He had no Senate leadership record...

The Simi Valley Club is having a 50th Anniversary Gala. Here is the data: Guest Speaker GOVERNOR SARA PALIN When: Saturday, August 8, 2009: 5:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception and Tours 6:30 p.m. Dinner Where: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum 40 Presidential Drive Simi Valley, CA COCKTAIL ATTIRE - NO CHILDREN UNDER 12 $150 PER PERSON UNLESS YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THEIR CLUB REPLY BY JULY 20, 2009 WITH PAYMENT MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO SVRWF RESERVATIONS NON-REFUNDABLE

Here’s a quick round-up of some more reactions. Ann Coulter is her usual brilliant self:

Ms. “You Betcha” really outdid herself Friday. In a breathless, rambling, manic and, let’s be honest here, downright nutty address outside her Wasilla home, the self-described “pit bull with lipstick” shocked and amused the political world by announcing she’s quitting, mid-term, as Alaska’s governor. Why?

Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin is expected to travel widely, campaigning for Republican candidates after startling America by suddenly quitting her job. One of America's most unconventional politicians, she left the country reeling on Friday evening by declaring that she is resigning her office this month and deriding the "superficial political blood sport." Almost a year after bursting on to the national scene as John McCain's presidential running mate, Mrs Palin, 45, has now made an unpredictable leap into the unknown. Speculation is at fever pitch that she will seek her party's nomination for the 2012 presidential race. Mrs Palin offered...

File this under: It ain't braggin' if it's true.This weekend, Free Republic won a battle in the political and cultural wars over Sarah Palin by exposing an article published by the Huffington Post that mockingly attacked the Alaska governor and her infant son Trig over Trig being born with Down syndrome.The exposure by Free Republic went viral to Twitter, Newsbusters and Hot Air (includes screen grab) as well as numerous blogs. The Huffington Post pulled the article within hours and issued an apology. The author of the piece of work, Erik Sean Nelson, issued his own apology via e-mail and...

Sarah is now unelectable on a national stage. The “quitter” specter will hang around her neck like “swimmer” does to Ted Kennedy. You’ll be able to spot the realistic, clear thinking conservatives because they see and admit this early so we can put it behind us get on with identifying the candidates who can win in ‘12. BTW - This doesn’t rule out a tangential private career ala Newt or a run for a House or Senate seat (although I don’t know where at this point) but as a national candidate she is toast. That so many conservatives can’t see...

How does Rush Limbaugh see Sarah Palin's resignation announcement? Through persistence and a bit of luck, however, your Radio Equalizer was able to track down Limbaugh, who offered a three minute taped answer to our key question: does Sarah Palin have a political future? In the response, Limbaugh denounced Beltway and state-run media speculation over Palin's next move, as well as dismissals of her future viability, comparing it to unfounded rumors regarding Michael Jackson's actual cause of death. He was careful to note that both establishment Democrats and Republicans were writing her political obituary, but that it was more than...

From Gov. Palin via Twitter: See letter from my attorney on baseless allegations of past 24hrs @ http://tinyurl.com/l4ct5n(excerpt)The Palin-hating left has been salivating this weekend over lies that began at an Alaska ankle biter website, percolated up to the national nutroots and got mentioned on several major liberal media outlets. At Conservatives 4 Palin, Mel traces the genesis of the rumors through the land of the loonies. Start at the bottom of the post and read up. In a telephone interview with Josh Meyer of the LA Times, an FBI spokesman in Alaska dismissed the leftist lies that an FBI...

I am really enjoying the pundits bewilderment over the calculus of Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska. I just want to point out that Sarah said she is seeking a “higher calling” and not a “higher office”. Observe also that she does not believe one needs a “title” to be an effective agent for change. Both comments indicate to me that her resignation is not, by design, the beginning of a national campaign for President of the United States. But just for grins, lets pretend Sarah is “crazy like a fox” as Bill Crystal suggests and that she is...

Why did Sarah Palin step down? Theories abound. But some of the people closest to the Alaska governor say she wanted to regain control of a political script that slipped out of her hands the moment she burst onto the national stage. She also wanted to shield herself and her family from the attacks that seem to have been aimed permanently at them in the 311 days since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced her as his running mate, according to some former campaign aides and other advisers who speak regularly with Palin or her husband, Todd. The Sarah Palin who...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans to remain extremely visible and will give serious consideration to running for president in 2012, but has made no decision, a close friend said after her startling announcement Friday that she will resign her office. Friends say Palin plans to spend time writing her book, which is due this fall, then promote it heavily when it comes out in spring 2010. Palin is by far the Republican Party's biggest draw for fund-raisers and conservative events, and the friends say she plans to spend a lot of time traveling in "the lower 48" states, as Alaskans...

Harlan Muth isn’t organizing Sarah Palin’s presidential campaign, but pledges as soon as someone does, “I’ll be with ’em. In the meantime, the Marion maintenance contractor is turning heads with his “Sarah Palin 2012” poster prominently displayed on his van. “It’s getting a fantastic response,” Muth, 63, said. “So many people give me the thumbs up or honk when they see it. Some people get out of their cars and ask me where they can get a poster.” Muth, who spent 23 years in the Air Force before settling down in Marion, couldn’t find a Palin 2012 sign, so he...

Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defies political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early. Supporters and critics alike say the former GOP vice presidential candidate’s resignation, announced 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? --snip-- Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin’s political action committee, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, which saw an uptick in contributions Friday afternoon.(continued at...

Since posting this blog entry critical of Sarah Palin on Friday, I have been getting a lot of angry email from right-wing culture warriors. That's not particularly surprising. But what is surprising is the general tone. Many of my correspondents seem to be turning Palin into a sort of political Christ figure, who has been martyred for America's political sins. This email from one George Lyster was typical in this regard: "It's because of incessant criticism from people like you why she is quitting. Attack her, attack her children, attack her grandchildren. No individual should have been treated by the...

Reporting from Washington -- A day after Alaska Gov. Sara Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation -- a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges. Despite rumors of a looming controversy after Palin's surprise announcement Friday that she will leave office this month, some of them published in the blogosphere, the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity. "There is absolutely no truth to those rumors,...

Any politician willing to treat their job as a temporary one is a politician worth looking at. Like most everyone else, I sat back and scratched my head in consternation at the announcement that Sarah Palin was resigning as governor of Alaska. Its either a bold or stupid move, I thought. I placed it on the slow cook burner in my brain and let it soak in. At first glance, you say “Well thats a mistake! She shot herself in the foot!” Then I asked myself “What happens when you decide you dont want to run for re election?” Are...

Palin has had enough, and it looks like she is going after those that smear her for defamation..., this is a screenshot in the last hour from her Twitter account...

At a time in American history when our liberties are under direct assault, our focus should be on how we can regain our country’s freedoms by understanding, supporting and embracing leaders who possess real character, courage, honesty, and integrity, leaders that put faith, country, and family at the forefront of their daily lives – Leaders like Sarah Palin who because of her outside Washington DC politics position, has seen herself and her family mercilessly attacked by those who do not possess 1/10th of her integrity and character. We respect Sarah for taking this stand. After all, it is most apparent...

On this Independence Day, I am so very proud of all those who have chosen to serve our great nation and I honor their selflessness and the sacrifices of their families, too. If I may, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours and share my thoughts with you.

If you thought that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was going to just fade into the background you are very very wrong. One day after announcing her resignation, Palin became showed everyone what she meant by the little Hockey Mom/pit bull joke. On face book she released a message that smacked the mainstream media for its response to her resignation and hinted that she will be running in 2012..........Later in the day the Governor's attorney Thomas Van Flein on warned legal action may be taken against bloggers and publications that reprint what he calls fraudulent claims...

There’s been an enormous amount of speculation from all corners as the the motivation behind Sarah Palin’s resignation as Governor of Alaska. The speculation has covered the full spectrum from the leftist talking points that she can’t take political heat to her supporters declaring that she’s preparing for national office. Her detractors have pretty much stayed on message, repeating over and over again that she’s weak, can’t take the heat and is deserting her post. However today a new twist has been revealed via Obama propagandist. The new twist is that the resignation came just before a Sarah Palin federal...

Obviously, the fifteen frivolous ethics violation charges, all dismissed, were more than beginning to take their toll on her, her family, and becoming a distraction from her ability to effectively govern the State. She did mention in her speech that she had personally incurred over $500,000 in legal bills, "just to set the record straight," and she had to be wondering if the onslaught of attacks from her political opponents would ever stop.

ABC News: Vice President Joe Biden today rejected Gov. Sarah Palin's complaint that she has been the victim of political blood sport. "No, I respect her decision, I don't," Biden told George Stephanopoulos when he asked him if he agreed with the Alaska governor's complaint that she had been the victim of "superficial, wasteful political blood sport."

For months now, I have consulted with friends and family, and with the Lieutenant Governor, about what is best for our wonderful state. I even made a few administrative changes over that course in time in preparation for yesterday. We have accomplished so much and there’s much more to do, but my family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most. And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier – I’ve never been one to waste time or resources. Those who know me know this is the right...

Media Bias: Oprah Winfrey won't invite Sarah Palin on her show because she doesn't want to use it to promote any candidate. Yet she was willing to use the celebrity garnered from her show to promote Barack Obama.This is the classic distinction without a difference. Oprah is one of those one-name celebrities. Her very mention of a book's title can make it a best-seller. When Oprah speaks, people listen. People listened earlier this year when she bypassed Sen. Hillary Clinton to publicly embrace the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, who had been on her show twice — in January 2005...

If Sarah Palin thinks quitting the Alaskan statehouse is going to help a 2012 presidential campaign which some pundits speculate she's mulling, she's mistaken, according to longtime Republican strategist Ed Rollins...

As Defense Secretary Gates tours our missile defense site at Fort Greely, Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin calls for restoration of the missile defense cuts. Meanwhile, North Korea points another missile at the U.S. Robert Gates' visit to our missile defense facility at Fort Greely on Monday was a pointed reminder to the North Koreans that while we have been talking softly, we still have a few big sticks in the ground ready to turn the North Korean missile program into so much scrap metal.

On this Independence Day, I am so very proud of all those who have chosen to serve our great nation and I honor their selflessness and the sacrifices of their families, too. If I may, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours and share my thoughts with you. First, I want to thank you for your support and hard work on the values we share. Those values led me to the decision my family and I made. Yesterday, my family and I announced a decision that is in Alaska’s best interest and it...

Needless to say, it was a surprise to everyone outside her inner circle when Sarah Palin announced yesterday that she would resign as Alaska’s governor by the end of July. Many of her staunchest, new-media allies are declaring this the beginning of the 2012 presidential election and celebrating the idea that she can now spend more time in the lower 48. This could be true. After all, Mike Huckabee has already been spending lewd amounts of time in Iowa, a location that the acting governor of Alaska is hard-pressed to excuse herself to. Now, she could even uproot her family...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's abrupt and unscripted holiday resignation is an odd way to launch a potential presidential bid and certainly no help for a party battered by scandal and fighting for relevancy. From a folksy figure who catapulted from obscure governor to conservative darling and vice presidential nominee, it's merely the latest move in a political drama that has left Republican elders scratching their heads. --snip-- "If this is her launching pad for 2012, it's a curious move," said John Weaver, a former senior strategist for McCain's presidential bids. "Policy is politics, and she has no real accomplishments as...

THIS VERY STRANGE REPORT WAS PUBLISHED BY KGB CONTROLLED RUSSIAN SOURCE. IT IS DISTURBING TO THE CORE McCain’s running mate lays into Russia 05 September, 2008, 08:26 Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has wasted no time in casting a cloud over Russia. In her keynote speech to the party convention in Minnesota, the Alaskan Governor accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon in its disagreements with the West. PALIN: “With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves...

The liberal Talking Points Memo website, which is deemed a respectable political site by the mainstream media which regularly quotes from their articles, published an article last night that speculated Alaska Governor Sarah Palin resigned because "she wants to spread Down syndrome." Palin's infant son Trig was born last year with Down syndrome.Amazingly, the article was published at 11:51 p.m., hours after the Huffington Post had issued an apology over a similarly themed article that the site pulled after it was highlighted by Free Republic.The TPM article, entitled Possible Reasons for Sarah Palin's Resignation and Other Schadenfreude, was written by...

Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska is a brilliant liberating move for her career, and a potential turning point for the national conservative movement. The biggest problem with her responsibility as Governor of Alaska is that the state is so far away from the rest of America. No one hears of the good work she has been doing there, and the left is free to paint their own false caricature of her. ... I am hoping she spends two weeks of every month now touring the states doing fundraisers for a the sweeping Republican revival in 2010 that is...

On July 3rd, Sarah Palin, once again, turned the Main Stream Media pundits, the liberal policiticians, and the political establishment in Washington DC on their ear. Talk again is abuzz, "What will Sarah do?" I listened to her entire announcement. It was honorable, it was direct, and it punctuated the insane politics of our day...it also punctuated her personal commitment to fight for conservative principles and candidates...to fight for America, and to do so when it would not distract further from her job as Governor and the foundation she has built there. I am proud of her and support...

When my daughter came to me and told me her friends on Facebook were saying horrible things about Sarah Palin, I told her to get back online and ask them specifically why they were calling Sarah Palin names. Not one of them replied—they had no answer. They don’t know why they hate her, but they just do. Sarah Palin did nothing wrong to these people, or to the rest of the United States. If she had a ‘D’ after her name, she’d be hailed a hero in the mainstream media. However, just because she stands for what’s right in America,...