So Sarah Palin is resigning from being governor of Alaska. Had John McCain not mistakenly picked her as his running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign, she would probably be gearing up for reelection in 2010 instead of quitting her post. But it appears that she has become starstruck; the lure of national media exposure, along with the existence of a hardcore right-wing ideological following (like Ann Coulter), has changed this formerly pragmatic and unifying regional politician to a divisive and polarizing presence on the national level.
If Sarah Palin is leaving office because she wants to focus her undivided attention on campaigning for president in 2012, then I understand this. Being governor is much more of a demanding day-to-day job than is being a senator. A governor, like the president on a national level, is the chief executive of an entire state, with many decisions and responsibilities affecting its people. Part of being a chief executive, whether it be of a state or of a nation, is also just being there, making sure that everything is going O.K. and that the government that the governor or president has been elected to lead is functioning effectively in the interests of the people. So Palin’s resignation can be seen as a realization of this and a responsible act from someone who does care about her own state’s interests. The new governor, now-Lt-Governor Parnell, will be able to devote his full attention to taking care of Alaska’s interests.
On the other hand, it may be argued that Palin didn’t even come close to completing one term as governor. And her political résumé is very short to begin with. Plus, the only reason she was picked as McCain’s running mate was to attract disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters from the Democrats in the general presidential election. On top of all this, many conservatives are scratching their heads wondering why she couldn’t have just served the remainder of her one term, which would have ended in January 2011.
Apparently, nowadays it is necessary to begin campaigning for president the minute that the previous election has just ended (although it could be argued that Mitt Romney began campaigning for 2012 the minute he conceded the Republican nomination to McCain in the spring of ’08). I think that Sarah Palin wants to do much as Ronald Reagan successfully did in the mid-to-late seventies.
Ronald Reagan left office as governor of California in January 1975 after his second term expired. He immediately set his sights on taking the 1976 Republican presidential nomination from sitting President Gerald Ford, coming very close to pulling this off. For the next four years, Reagan became a columnist and a media commentator, which kept him in the spotlight without labeling him as a perpetual campaigner. And this is the mold in which Palin is trying to fit.
But it won’t work, in my opinion. Reagan was a very genial soul who laughed off criticisms and befriended ideological opponents. Palin, on the other hand, takes all criticisms very personally and uses what she regards as humor to personally attack others. She may want to emulate Reagan, but I see her in reality as emulating one of Reagan’s contemporaries: Richard Nixon, the master of the “enemies list”.
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Her problem, here, is that she has no clue how to appear worthy of higher aspirations. Her speech was a horrid, incoherent mess, and she left everyone wondering "WTF?"
ReplyDeleteIf one takes what she says at face value, it's interesting — and a view into her psyche — to note that she seems to think that there are only two choices:
1. Laze around, take trips, and enjoy the kicking-back leisure time that not worrying about re-election gives you.
2. Quit.
It never appears to occur to her that
3. Continue doing your job with diligence and vigor.
...is even a choice.
That will not server her well in future, whatever she decides to do.