Sarah Pailin has just killed her political career

On July 3rd Sarah Pailin announced that she would be leaving office at the end of the month. As a liberal I obviously jumped for joy at the news and rubbed my hands together, but I am going to try and write this post with some non-partisan analysis. It's going to be hard.

Gov. Pailin said that "Once I decided not to run for another term, I didn't want to be lame duck". I have to wonder if Gov. Pailin actually understands what the point of governing is. I'm not getting a dig in at her, I am asking an honest question. The point of governing is to get things done, not advance your political career. I assume Gov. Pailin knows that, but she is going to be attacked by not just the Democrats but the Republicans as well for putting here career before the state's well being.

The Conservatives are already turning against her. Karl Rove, one of the most brilliant and evil political consultants in the country, said on Fox News Sunday, "It's not clear what she's doing and why", "It's a risky strategy," and that he was "a little perplexed.". George Will went a step further saying on This Week, ""The one that rings most hollow is, she doesn't want to put Alaska through the terror of [her] being a lame-duck governor If she is just weary of it, one can understand that. Still, she made a contract with [voters] to serve out her term. And she said, in her own words, she now is a quitter."

Senator Grassley said on Face the Nation " "I would think, if you want to run for president -- and I'm not sure that's got anything to do with what she's doing -- that the forum of a governorship would be a better forum than just being a private citizen,". The Senator is totally right, Gov. Pailin had a shot at the Republican nomination for President before this and I think she just lost it.

I can see the debate now, Huckabee on one side and Romney on the other Romney is talking in that smooth greasy way the he has. "Gov. Pailin resigned because she didn't want to be a "lame duck" If you win Governor will you resign shortly through your second term?" Then Ron Paul will jump in and Huckabee will too. She will have no way out, no excuse. The reason she resigned was that she wanted to run for president and everyone knows that.

Sarah Pailin has tried to do the political equivalent of shooting yourself in the leg so as to get out of war. Unfortunately for her, she missed and put the bullet through her chest, causing internal bleeding. Like internal bleeding, the huge problem this will cause for her may not be seen right away, but it will kill her political career. I'm upset by this because we won't be able to see Tina Fey play Sarah Pailin again. Watching her impersonations online were the highlight of my Sundays during the election. Well I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Peace out!