Palin Quits as Alaska Governor, but Stays Quiet on Plans for National Comeback
THE GUARDIAN: Former Republican vice-presidential candidate leaves no hints to next steps as she receives rock star farewell

Sarah Palin begins the next stage of her highly unpredictable political life today having bowed out of her post of governor of Alaska 16 months before the term ends.

The official resignation at a governor's picnic yesterday in Fairbanks leaves Palin relieved of the bureaucratic burdens that had started to weigh her down in recent months. Supporters hope and believe she will use her newfound freedom to vigorously pursue a national profile that will lead to a run on the White House in 2012.

But plain Sarah Palin, devoid of the governor's title, is also left without a formal political power base from which to kickstart any national campaign. She carries with her financial debts, ongoing ethics battles related to her term in office, and the new label of "quitter".

Exactly what she will do with her ample spare time remains one of the hottest political questions in America today. The only known date in her diary is 8 August, when she will make a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California.

Pundits are equally divided between those who are convinced she is finished, and those who think the Palin spectacle has only just begun. Part of the reason for the polarised response is that Palin is herself a polarising politician, and part because she herself offers so little in the way of explanation. >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sarah Palin Says She Is Fed Up with Politics
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Sarah Palin, the failed 2008 vice-presidential candidate tipped to run for the White House in 2012, has told close friends she is “out of politics, period” after astounding the Republican party with a theatrical resignation as governor of Alaska.

Palin, 45, burst onto the national political scene less than a year ago as the “thriller from Wasilla” — a moose-hunting ice-hockey mom with five children including Trig, a Down’s syndrome baby — and electrified the party’s Christian conservative base as Senator John McCain’s running mate.

In a bizarre, erratic news conference outside her lakeside home on Friday, Palin held out the promise of a national role in politics when she said she hoped to “fight for all our children’s future from outside the governor’s office”.

Yesterday it emerged that she had told “very close friends” she had no intention of running for president. “She is fed up with politics. She doesn’t like her life. She feels that she needs to raise her family,” said Andrea Mitchell, an NBC News reporter who is married to Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

“She really does not want to run for higher office,” Mitchell added. “This is not a case where she is stepping down in order to clear the way for a presidential run.”

Palin’s sudden decision to resign caught some family members by surprise, as well as bewildered staff and supporters. “She didn’t even tell her brother,” said John Coale, a Washington lawyer and political consultant who is close to the governor. A spokeswoman for Palin said quitting the governorship was a “liberating feeling . . . she can’t get out of there fast enough”. >>> Sarah Baxter in Washington | Sunday, July 5, 2009

Palin to Resign as Governor of Alaska
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced Friday that she would step down by the end of the month and not seek a second term as governor, fueling speculation that she is seriously weighing whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

Ms. Palin, who was Senator John McCain’s vice presidential running mate last year and solidified the support of the party’s conservative base, explained her decision at a news conference at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, accompanied by her husband, Todd, and other family members.

“We know we can affect positive change outside of government,” she said in making the announcement.

Known as Sarah Barricuda when she played basketball in high school, Ms. Palin used point guard analogy in explaining her decision, saying she knows “exactly when to pass the ball so the team can win.”

She said that she planned to hand over the reins of the state government to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who would be sworn in at the governor’s picnic in Fairbanks on July 25.

“This decision came after much consideration,” Ms. Palin told reporters gathered at her home, and added, “I really don’t want to disappoint anyone with this announcement.” >>> Mitchell L Blumenthal | Friday, July 03, 2009

On John McCain’s Selection of Sarah Palin as His Running Mate
Watch Guardian video: Republican presidential candidate John McCain makes his first appearance on stage with his running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate
McCain has chosen the attractive Sarah Palin as his running mate. Photo courtesy of The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: DAYTON, Ohio — In a surprise move, Senator John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate on Friday, McCain officials confirmed, shaking up the political world at a time when his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In choosing Ms. Palin — a 44-year-old conservative and self-described “hockey mom” who has been governor for less than two years — the McCain campaign reached far outside the Washington Beltway in an election in which the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change.

Ms. Palin, a former mayor of the small town of Wasilla, an Anchorage suburb, and one-time beauty pageant queen, first rose to prominence as a whistle-blower uncovering ethical misconduct in state government.

The selection amounted to a gamble that an infusion of new leadership — and the novelty of the Republican Party’s first female candidate for vice president — would more than compensate for the risk that Ms. Palin could undercut one of the McCain campaign’s central arguments, its claim that Mr. Obama is too inexperienced to be president.

The choice of Ms. Palin stands in sharp contrast to the selection of the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a veteran lawmaker and chairman of Foreign Relations Committee. McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate >>> By Michael Cooper and Elisabeth Bumiller | August 29, 2008

BBC:
McCain Picks Female Running Mate: US Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has picked Sarah Palin, the female governor of Alaska, as his surprise running mate >>> | August 29, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>