Imagine my surprise when I woke up today to read the headline “Sarah Palin Steps Down as Alaska Governor.” Immediately, I was filled with joy and sighed with relief, assuming that she had stepped down because of political pressure surrounding all her recent ethics scandals. Even Fox News admits…
Palin has been dogged in recent months by ethics inquiries. Her office last month announced the 15th dismissal of an ethics complaint against her or one of her staff.
On Wednesday, Beverly Wooley, who has worked more than 20 years in public health in Alaska, most of it with the municipality of Anchorage, ended her stint as state public health director. She’s the second top health official to leave within days. The state’s chief medical officer, Jay Butler, left in late June after declining to take on Wooley’s job along with his own.
So I figured, “Well, that’s that then. We won’t be hearing from that idiot ever again.” She spent over a half a million dollars to defend herself and her husband against these complaints, after all. How much more dirty laundry could she really accumulate? Much to my chagrin, I found that she wasn’t really leaving in shame – she’s just taking a break before trying to snatch up the Republican nomination for president in 2012. Granted, she hasn’t officially confirmed this yet, but there’s plenty of speculation…
“Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long-shot national political ambitions, or she simply can’t handle the job, now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues (in Alaska) are down,” Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic spokesman, said in a statement. “Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behaviour that, more than anything else, may explain the decision she made today.”
I can’t really disagree there. If this is her attempt to avoid more bad publicity while simultaneously readying herself for a presidential run, she’s not going to do so by leaving the much smaller and less complicated office that she was already elected to. I’m hoping that this is the beginning of the end of Palin’s career in politics, but when you look at the list of other potential candidates, you quickly realize that she might actually stand a fighting chance…at least for the nomination. You couldn’t even take on Tina Fey – good luck running against the Democrat that already beat your ass last year without even really addressing you directly. You’re your own worst enemy, Sarah, and if I have to watch you run, at least I’ll get to see you trip over your own high heels again and again.
