It's interesting that this was released on a slow news cycle - a Friday before the 4th of July. Does anyone have other news or speculation on this? I think it's very odd that she doesn't finish out her term and refuses to seek re-election if she wants to be considered a viable 2012 presidential candidate. I guess that's what happens when you elect a maverick to office!!
I'd like to hear comments/opinions/speculation on this news from the usual Republican trolls here on RSW.
By Yukari Iwatani Kane
Sarah Palin said Friday that she won't run for a second term as governor of Alaska and will transfer her responsibilities to the state's lieutenant governor.
In a statement, Ms. Palin, who is in her final year in office as governor, said, "I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is not the easiest path."
"I also felt that to embrace the conventional 'Lame Duck' status in this particular climate would just be another dose of 'politics as usual,'" she said.
Ms. Palin said she would transfer power to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell on July 26.
Her decision not to run for a second term will likely fuel speculation about whether she may make a presidential bid in the 2012 election. Ms. Palin was the vice presidential nominee for the Republican party in 2008.
At the time, her selection by Republican presidential candidate John McCain drew controversy because she was a relative neophyte on the political scene. Ms. Palin has since continued to be in the news for everything from her wardrobe choices to her sparring with late night host David Letterman over remarks he made about one of Ms. Palin's daughters.