Seeya, Sarah

Sarah Palin officially stepped down as governor of Alaska today.  Why did she come to this decision?  Is she aiming for national office?  Will people see her as courageous or as a quitter?  What does it all mean?
Do you come to this blog for the answers to questions like these?  If you do, then you probably shouldn’t be allowed to use the grownup scissors.
Palin really did get a raw deal during the campaign.  Hostile media, Obama followers willing to believe absolutely anything, Tina Fey.  But face it, McCain didn’t do her any favors either.  I knew about her long before the primaries even started, and I remember thinking that she would be a great candidate for the next time around.  Give her some time to grow in office.  Let her get some national exposure, give some speeches, visit some foreign countries (governors do that), knock down that ‘not experienced enough’ label.  Let her get herself ready for the spotlight and the issues before tossing her out there.  She could have been great in 2012.
Instead, to give his lousy campaign a boost, McCain picks her.  And she did give him a boost for a while.  But she wasn’t ready, and now she’s got a failed campaign under her belt and months later is still the target of hostility from political partisans (and media outlets).  And she’s still defending herself from multiple dubiously-sourced (probably politically motivated) ethics charges.
I have no way of knowing for sure, but I bet the hostility and attacks are a big, big reason she’s leaving.  If McCain had picked Pawlenty instead…?

[I would have said 'Pawlenty or Sanford,' but you know...]

On the bright side, the way things are going right now whoever wins the Republican nomination in 2012 is going to have a great chance.  Seeya then, Sarah.