So what next after Sarah Palin shoots herself – in the foot?
So Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska. Why? This announcement seems to have really caught the media on the hop – let’s hope that she didn’t shoot them in the foot too!
So why has she done it? The interview that she gave announcing her departure proved that she was not intending to leave politics, after she corrected her statement that she was stepping down because she believed she could be more effective “outside government” to “outside the governor’s office.” During and since the Presidential election, Palin was constantly mocked for her lack of solid political knowledge and experience, particularly in the international arena. So is she looking for a Senate seat in 2010 in order to improve her prospects for the 2012 nomination and race? If so, she can’t stand in Alaska, where Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski has already announced that she will run – and Palin has agreed to head up her fundraising.
Since the huge popularity and publicity of last summer, Palin’s star has fallen in Alaska as well as in the remainder of the US. Her approval ratings have fallen to the low-50s, a far cry from the nearly 90% that she once held. Some cite her interest in Conservative issues, rather than the needs of her home state, others think she’s just not interested in their small stage any more. Former Governor Wally Hickel, who chaired Palin’s gubernatorial campaign and to whom Palin referred as her mentor, broke the relationship earlier this year, saying damingly, “When Governor Sarah Palin was elected in 2006, we believed she would put Alaska first. But once elected, she put Sarah first. Because of her national ambitions, she is promoting an agenda that will allow outside corporations to dominate Alaska’s resources, including our energy and the jobs it provides.” Maybe local dissatisfaction was best summed up by one bumper sticker, which stated “Hey Sarah … the job’s in Juneau“.
So if Palin has ambitions to take on Barack Obama in 2012 from the position of a Senator, where can she go. So far, five Republican incumbents have announced that they will not restand: in Florida, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio. On last year’s results, it seems impossible to believe that Palin would take a chance on any one of those except Kansas. But it also seems strange that someone whose entire life and family seem totally bound up with Alaska would suddenly up sticks to the South.
So is there more scandal still to come out? Over at the Huffington Post and other similar sites, talk is of an ‘iceberg scandal’. Palin’s new press secretary David Murrow is said to have promised ‘fireworks’ this weekend on his Facebook page. So what is going on?
So Obama has lost possibly his greatest asset in what will hopefully be his 2012 re-election campaign. But he won’t be the chief mourner if this proves the death of Palin’s political ambitions. For that, look no further than Stateside’s stand-up comedians. “To say that we are heartbroken is a massive understatement,” said Shecky Sheinbaum, a regular headliner at Cincinnati’s Laugh Hut (yes, I hadn’t heard of him either!). “I feel like the chicken crossing the road has been run over by a truck before it gets to the other side.” He added ”The world of comedy has lost one of its greatest targets. We have gone though a rough couple of weeks – first Michael Jackson, now this.”
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