I confess: I was a little disappointed and confused when I heard that Sarah Palin had resigned from her job as the governor of Alaska. Having lived in Alaska for a couple of years, I still feel a bit of a tie to the largest state in the Union, not to mention a little tie to Palin herself for the tremendous shot in the arm she gave the Republican side of the campaign last year. I don’t think I will ever forget her deft slice-and-dice of Joe Biden on the campaign trail – and he is definitely a man who should have been sliced-and-diced throughout the campaign.
That said, however, I had to give Sarah credit for 1) recognizing that there are times when you have to “pass the ball,” so to speak, to get the job done, and 2) recognizing what was happening in her career at that point was more because of the threat she represents than anything she has actually done. I loved this blurb from Fox News on June 8, 2009:
Winning Streak: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is batting 1,000 against ethics charges. The Washington Times reports the former Republican vice presidential nominee has fought off all 14 complaints since being put on the ticket. The latest came from an Anchorage resident who said Palin abused her position for financial gain by wearing a jacket in public that was manufactured by the snowmobile company that sponsors her husband. That complaint was dismissed last week. Governor Palin had called the charge, “asinine political grandstanding.”
Yeah. That’s what I’d call it, too.
The only question I have is, let’s assume that this decision is so that she can take the next couple of years to prepare to seek the Republican party nomination for president or vice president in 2012 (assuming there is a Republican party to speak of – sorry. I am a little cynical about that right now). “Going to ground” is a time-honored tradition when you’re under fire, as any good “Godfather” fan knows. (It still looks an awful lot like hiding.)
Plus, at a time when the state of Alaska doesn’t have extra cash to throw around, continuing to spend money defending against complaint after baseless complaint seems to be a lose-lose situation. If she stays and defends, it costs the state money – even if she wins every battle. Plus, no matter how good you are, somebody someplace is going to find you doing something that will stick – whether it’s true or not. Look at Daniel – the Old Testament prophet – who, even though he did nothing wrong, still ended up in a den of lions for political reasons. She has personally spent over $500,000 fighting the ethics complaints – which has been reported as accumulated debt (unknown what percentage) - so, I can see the value of just stepping out to see if the storm passes.
However, Sarah’s strategy is not without its own risks. Should she pursue the nomination (let alone get it), the coverage is going to focus on how long she would serve if elected – “how long are you going to stay this time, Sarah?” I can hear the heckling already. She will have left the only executive political position she’s had that gives her (or gave her) any legitimacy as a potential leader of the free world.
Granted, given Mr. O’s current trend, there might not be such a job by 2012, since he seems to be doing his best to turn the U.S. into the United Socialist States of America, but she’s still giving up the only gig she has that has any shot of preparing her to be President (or Vice President). And, it’s going to be a tougher sell to prove to the American people that when the going gets tough, she will stick to her guns and not run.
I truly wish the best for her and her family. She has a young child at home, along with the other children (and grandchild) in her family, and family trumps work in my book. There is no shame in stepping down from a great job to devote yourself fulltime to being a wife and mother, and if her reasons for making this decision have anything to do with sparing her children from more attacks from the likes of David Letterman, then great. Go, Sarah! [BTW - see this in the American Thinker - spot on.]
BTW, I’m not going as far as Biden and Huckabee in their smarmy little paternalistic comments – I think that anyone’s choice (male or female) to put their family ahead of their jobs is brave and deserves a little credit. Biden said, ”It maybe had a lot to do with what the state of their life was, and the state of their family, et cetera. So I’m not going to second-guess her,” he said. “I take her at her word that it had a personal ingredient and you have to respect that.” Sorry, Biden, but that smacks of paternalism: poor little lady – should have stayed home with the kids in the first place and left the governing to the menfolk.
[***And I'm not a feminist - really. I like men - I think that God's plan of men being in charge is better for families and better for society, so long as men are obedient and submit themselves to God's authority and leading. When men fail to do what they are supposed to do, God does allow women to hold positions of leadership (c.f., Deborah in the Old Testament book of Judges), but it is usually a condemnation of the men for their abdication of their leadership responsibilities, IMO.]
Huckabee notes that “her reason for resigning will be a liability for her if she seeks the White House. ‘If that had been the case for me, I would’ve quit in my first month,’ said Huckabee. ‘If she’s looking to be a national political figure, it’s not going to get easier, he said.’” I’m sorry – I don’t give him a lot of credit for being a political “fan” of Sarah Palin’s. I think that if she does run for 2012, he is going to use this to further his own ambitions – no question.
According to her personal spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton: ”This is a move that says, ‘Enough, I’m not going to keep hitting my head against this wall. I’m not playing politics as usual. You go play that game. I’ll go play it another way and at another court,’ so she can get something done and make a difference with the issues and values that are important to her.”
I just hope that whatever the plan is, she knows what she’s doing.
Ouch.
Quitting is just never a good political option–especially when you are planning to run for another elected office (if, indeed, she is).
I understand the reasons. It even makes good fiscal and perhaps even governing sense. But she is a great communicator and I wonder if staying in and turning the tables might not have served her better. Stand and fight–not only in the courtroom but in the court of public opinion. Most of the charges against her are ridiculous–holding a fish in a photo?? Any thinking person would see how silly the attacks against her had become. It was clearly a matter of the politics of personal destruction. Too bad she may have contributed to it.
It reminds me of another quitter who quit in a different way–GW Bush. He totally stopped making his case to the American people and he never did defend himself. He is a gentleman and took the high road, but it was political suicide and, not only did it hurt him, it hurt everyone around him.
Kim: I know – “ouch” is right. I’m wondering if the true “spinning” isn’t coming from her side, rather than the media. That’s why I’m just wondering what is really going on – not that I have a “right” to know, but I just wonder how she is making her decisions.
That is something that we as citizens do have a “right” to know: by what standards a leader makes his or her decisions. We may not get to know all of them – or even most of them – but in order to have some level of trust, we ought to know at least the big ones.
I tend to agree with you on George W., BTW. I think he just put his head down and did what he thought was right and to h*** with anyone else – I agree with many of his choices and decisions, but he could have used some political cover, and he either didn’t get it or didn’t take advantage of it. For one thing, I think he was a lot smarter than a lot of people gave him credit for – he is certainly a lot smarter than Junior (who, BTW, I attribute his “success” to three things: affirmative action, Joe Kennedy’s money, and Joe Kennedy’s influence – but that’s another post).
You know, doesn’t that just bring us back full circle to the Scripture? We all need people in our lives to be iron for us – sharpening us, making sure that we are accountable for our choices and decisions, speaking the truth in love, and helping us up when we stumble. The President of the United States needs such people even more because there is so much more at stake. It’s hard to say that when the person currently holding the office is so abysmally bad…. but he needs it, too.
Agreed with each point.
Also I thought I better clarify something I said in my first comment:
“It was clearly a matter of the politics of personal destruction. Too bad she may have contributed to it.”
That sounds as if I think she entered into the politics of personal destruction against others. I’m not aware of her ever doing that. What I meant was that by quitting, she may have contributed to her own political and personal destruction.
Kim: I agree – by taking the step she took, she may have contributed to the demise of her own political career. We’ll have to see how this shakes out…. In the meantime, I read an article this morning that outlined the foundations of the “Great Awakening” in the U.S. in 1735 – it took the prayers of Jonathan Edwards and faithful church members for over 6 years before the Great Awakening took place. Six years…. It’s no wonder our country is in such shambles – we can’t wait 6 days for stuff, let alone 6 years!! That’s faith.