Few were more surprised than I to hear Sarah Palin is stepping down at the end of the month from the governorship of Alaska. I didn't see her leaving before she was forced, screaming, from the Alaska state house.
My first exposure to what happened and her remarks came from news articles and commentary. Because I don't like Palin – her politics or her rhetoric – it was easy to buy into the spin of the pieces.
The columnists, and to a lesser degree the news articles, presented her position as off the cuff, backwards, laughable and just short of obtuse. None of that was hard to believe – it's what I think of her anyway.
But, I think it's of the utmost importance to hear what a person has said – or read what a person has written – for myself. I want to follow the nuance, to determine the main ideas and themes, before considering myself informed enough to have an opinion. Otherwise I'm just a parrot for someone else's thoughts, impressions and ideas, even if their statement reinforce what I already think and believe.
So, I read the text of her remarks at the press conference where she announced her resignation. And while I don't believe she's anywhere near the sharpest knife in the drawer –her ability to execute the English language being the biggest indicator of that – her decision and reasons for same are not as silly or arcane as all the writers I've read proffer.
Basically she said – with too many words and silly tangential anecdotes – that despite the success of her administration up to the time she went national as a vice presidential candidate, her ability to govern since the election has been inhibited by politically-based ethics and media attacks. This, she said, has taken up the state's time and money, and she finds this inexcusable. She promised Alaskans better and these distractions have stopped her from fulfilling that promise and she's not comfortable with that.
Leaving now removes the distraction from the government and allows it to get back, full force, to serving the people of Alaska. The decision to leave now, she clarified, was a natural outgrowth of deciding not to run again, because a lame duck governor was not productive.
Of all the things Palin has said and done since she was picked to run with John McCain, this is the first worthy of my respect.
Naive as this sounds, on the political side, I don't think there is much more to it than she's said. I don't think she's trying to make another run for a national office. All of this has been really hard for her and her family. I would like to think she now understands that a national office is just too much of a stretch for her to make.
The truth is, as much as it pains me, she is a national figure. She can write a book and get an agent and publisher with only a few phone calls. She probably has a large number of speaking requests – even though I can't figure out why – that will keep her in the spotlight. She was a good sport on Saturday Night Live, I wouldn't be surprised if this move didn't get her another invite and despite the ugly glasses and '50s hairdo, she takes a good photo. There could be some acting or modeling opportunities out there. Not to mention opportunities as a spokesperson for one of the many causes and positions she supports. Resigning as governor is not going to take her out of the spotlight, just the hot seat and elected office.
That to me, is a win for us all.
Many people see contradictions in her speech – like quitting to keep things going forward – and I agree she could have been more eloquent and less verbose. And many of the problems plaguing her, she brought on herself.
But a broken clock is right twice a day and this my friends, is Sarah Palin's moment. She has done, and I'm sure will do, a great many things worthy of ridicule and admonition. This is not one of them. Let's not kick her because she put herself in front of a foot. Give her this moment and let her go quickly and quietly.
That might be the only way to make sure we don't see her as a contender for political office again.
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