Sarah Palin's Resignation

What a wacky end to a wild ride in the national public eye for Sarah Palin.

As the most popular sitting governor of any state at the time of her selection for VP on McCain's presidential ticket, Palin had many desirable and impressive attributes.

Sadly, things seemed to have gone downhill from there for her. First she was badly-handled by McCain's staffers. Then the outlandish, false rumors started regarding her wardrobe and spending on her preparation for the late summer's campaign.

But perhaps the most egregious consequence of her sudden fame was a tidal wave of anger by liberals who could offer no objective reasons for hating her. I personally have several female liberal Democratic acquaintances who simply sputter and physical go into contortions when Palin's name is mentioned, but can offer no sane explanation for their reactions. They typically criticize Palin's mannerisms, eye-glasses or the state of Alaska.

I'm sure much of this liberal female- and male- rancor is based upon Palin's simple story of a rise to power through competence, likability and normalcy. She's a beautiful woman with a nice husband, both are athletic, and Palin didn't attend an Ivy League university or become a lawyer.

In contrast, Hilary Clinton is, at best, physically plain, a lawyer with no record of any important political accomplishment. She's rather bland compared to Palin's genuine excitement, multi-dimensional life and accomplishments and approach to the electorate.

Despite the confusing currents surrounding Palin's national rise and, now, departure from office, I have a few thoughts on her recent actions and near term prospects.

Like Karl Rove, I also think that Sarah Palin is pretty far from ready for the prime time, national stage of Republican politics. Being VP on a losing ticket is miles away from genuine contention for the top spot in November of 2012. For Palin, I suspect the rapid rise to national prominence has caused her to feel she's better-positions and -prepared for national campaigning than she really is.

Judging by her comments, Palin is largely focused on values and perceived splits in the Republican party, particularly between entrenched party operatives and more conservative voters who are often registered as independents.

While I always give governors the edge over Senators in presidential races, Palin does hail from a small state, and now has failed to complete even one term.

If you recall, Jimmy Carter was similarly from a small state. He, too sounded high moral values and populist themes, only to prove, once in office, that his cracker state background was simply not up to performing well as president.

I didn't give Palin much of a chance at a 2012 nomination even if she had remained governor. Now, I think it will be nearly impossible. Give her credit for heading off the continuing stress of running a distant state while trying to spend time and attention on national issues. Evidently, Alaskans were already growing weary of her obvious attempt to keep her hand in national politics.

There's another side to Palin's resignation, though, that troubles me. It seems that, like George W. Bush, she had productive relationships with Democrats in her state's legislature, until her rise to McCain's ticket.

Somehow, it seems that Alaskan Democrats became obligated to tear Palin apart every chance they got, and suddenly become contentious. The people of Alaska clearly haven't been well-served by these Democratic antics.

Is it now the case that opposition parties to a sitting governor must go negative as soon as that governor gets national attention and is touted as a presidential candidate?

What happened to state pride and some sort of bi-partisanship to actually make government- whether state or federal- work?

Palin's resignation gives one cause to worry about the divisive, damaging role our political parties seem to play toward any politician from the opposing party who has demonstrated competence, performance and genuine success in serving their electorate.