Sarah Palin has announced she will resign as Alaska's governor at the end of the month.

In a bit of a shocker, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced she would not run for a second term and in fact will be resigning at the end of the month.  The move instantly raised speculation that the former vice presidential candidate would be making a run for the presidency in 2012. 

In a statement released by the governor’s office, Palin said, “Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose.” 

I’m not sure what Palin is thinking but this is certainly an unexpected move.  Being in Alaska she certainly would have a hard time garnering national attention leading up to the election so in some ways this makes sense.  This gives her all the time she needs to move around freely in the lower 48 and ensure she stays in the public eye and part of the debate over the direction the nation is headed. 

One thing is for sure: The next three and a half years just got a lot more interesting!

Here’s the complete statement from the governor’s office:

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I serve, as your Governor.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing’s more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.

I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln’s cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked “North to the Future”. But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this “Seward’s Folly”. Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.

Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America. We’re strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this – Alaska would be part of America’s great destiny.

Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It’s energy! God gave us energy.

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show my independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”.

And we are doing well! My administration’s accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans.

We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world… to help people… and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with our policies.

Here’s some of the things we’ve done:

We created a petroleum integrity office to oversee safe development. We held the line for Alaskans on Point Thomson – and finally for the first time in decades – they’re drilling for oil and gas.

We have AGIA, the gasline project – a massive bi-partisan victory (the vote was 58 to 1!) – also succeeding as intended – protecting Alaskans as our clean natural gas will flow to energize us, and America, through a competitive, pro-private sector project. This is the largest private sector energy project, ever. This is energy independence.

And ACES – another bipartisan effort – is working as intended and industry is publicly acknowledging its success. Our new oil and gas “clear and equitable formula” is so Alaskans will no longer be taken advantage of. ACES incentivizes new exploration and development and jobs that were previously not going to happen with a monopolized North Slope oil basin.

We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform.

We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes… but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow.

We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be.

We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance.

We broke ground on the new prison.

And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets… the entourage.

And the Lt. Governor and I said “no” to our pay raises.

So much success in this first term – and with this success I am proud to take credit… for hiring the right people! Our goal was to achieve a gasline project, more fair oil and gas valuation, and ethics reform in four years. We did it in two. It’s because of the people… good public servants surrounding the Governor’s office, with servants’ hearts and astounding work ethic… they are Alaska’s success!

We are doing well! I wish you’d hear more from the media of your state’s progress and how we tackle Outside interests – daily – special interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense!

Another accomplishment – our Law Department protected states’ rights – two huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in our state’s favor over the last two weeks. We’re protectors of our Constitution – federalists protect states’ rights as mandated in 10th amendment.

But you don’t hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year – the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate – I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I’ve been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions.

Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn’t been cheap – the State has wasted thousands of hours of your time and shelled out some two million of your dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money not going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game.

It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with this instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but this isn’t what anyone had in mind for Alaska.

If I have learned one thing: life is about choices!

And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose not to tear down and waste precious time; but to build up this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people!

Life is too short to compromise time and resources… it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: “Sit down and shut up”, but that’s the worthless, easy path; that’s a quitter’s way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”.

Nah, only dead fish “go with the flow”.

No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time… to build up.

And there is such a need to build up and fight for our state and our country. I choose to fight for it! And I’ll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and life… I’ll work for and campaign for those proud to be American, and those who are inspired by our ideals and won’t deride them.

I will support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the right reasons, and I don’t care what party they’re in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska.

But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk.

I’ve never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this – to make a difference… to help people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more “freedom” to progress, all the way around… so that Alaska may progress… I will not seek re-election as Governor.

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that – I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! That’s not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old “politics as usual.” I promised that four years ago – and I meant it.

It’s not what is best for Alaska.

I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and not so comfortable.

With this announcement that I am not seeking re-election… I’ve determined it’s best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell; and I am willing to do so, so that this administration – with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future – can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.

My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.

Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me – sports… basketball. I use it because you’re naïve if you don’t see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can win. And I’m doing that – keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities – smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it’s time to pass the ball – for victory.

I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics.

I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you trust me with this decision – but it’s no more “politics as usual”.

Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either.

Some will question the timing. Let’s just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile…

In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life – my children (where the count was unanimous… well, in response to asking: “Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children’s future from outside the Governor’s office?” It was four “yes’s” and one “hell yeah!” The “hell yeah” sealed it – and someday I’ll talk about the details of that… I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we all could learn so much from someone like Trig – I know he needs me, but I need him even more… what a child can offer to set priorities right – that time is precious… the world needs more “Trigs”, not fewer.

My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for our freedom and security… we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that life is short so they choose to not waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than self… and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions – those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and not this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport.

May we all learn from them!

*((Gotta put First Things First))*

First things first: as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska. I’ve explained why… though I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator that says “Don’t explain: your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.”

But I have given my reasons… no more “politics as usual” and I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction.

Now, despite this, I don’t want any Alaskan dissuaded from entering politics after seeing this real “climate change” that began in August… no, we need hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! And I will support you because we need you and you can effect change, and I can too on the outside.

We need those who will respect our Constitution where government’s supposed to serve from the bottom up, not move toward this top down big government take-over… but rather, will be protectors of individual rights – who also have enough common sense to acknowledge when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it’s time so the team can win! And that is what I’m doing!

Remember Alaska… America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It’ll be good. So God bless you, and from me and my family – to all Alaska – you have my heart.

And we will be in the capable hands of our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. And Lieutenant General Craig Campbell will assume the role of Lieutenant Governor. And it is my promise to you that I will always be standing by, ready to assist. We have a good, positive agenda for Alaska.

In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

A new documentary on the media’s impact is being made (more information at www.HowObamaGotElected.com) and they have released a video of interviews they made with 12 Obama voters – see the bottom of this posting for the video.  It is pretty interesting, if not comical, to see these folks’ lack of knowledge.  But, you can’t judge all voters by such a small sampling.  So what do you do?  You contract well-respected pollster Zogby International to poll 512 Obama voters to judge their level of knowledge of the issues and the candidates.  The results are astounding: 

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

• 57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
• 71.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
• 82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
• 88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
• 56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).

And yet…..

• Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
• Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
• And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!
• Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
• Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we “gave” one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)

Wow!  Everyone knew all about the latest Palin gossip and misinformation but failed to know significant information about the Democratic candidates.  It is pretty clear what stories the media was pushing and who they favored in their coverage.

Now for the video:

The nominee himself.  Out of the original batch of Republicans vying for the nomination, John McCain was my # 3 choice.  I have tremendous respect for the man and believe he would have made a good president – he certainly is more qualified than our president elect.  However, the “maverick” streak that McCain is so proud of also damaged the opinion of him in many conservatives’ views.  His stance on a number of issues took him much further toward the center than what many Republicans wanted and their support of him was tepid at best (at least until Sarah Palin came aboard – see below).  Indeed, post election analysis shows that Republican turnout this year was 1.3% below what it was in 2004 – that is significant.
 
The strategy.  Certainly the economy falling apart in the weeks leading up to the election threw the McCain campaign off of the message they would have preferred.  They had no choice but to make it the primary focus when they would much rather been appealing to things that are their strong suit like smaller government, national security and such.  For whatever reason, when economic times are tough, many people are quick to run to the Democrat nanny state and that is what happened.  Even so, there were opportunities to seize on the economy issue and turn it into an advantage but McCain never took it. 

He could have been much more aggressive in bringing to light the significant role the Dems played in the sub-prime mortgage failure – after all, George Bush warned Congress 17 times!  Bill O’Reilly suggested McCain should have named Mitt Romney as Secretary of the Treasury and Rudy Giuliani as Attorney General before the election and seized on that to point out the tremendous economic experience of Romney while saying Giuliani would seek out and prosecute those that failed the country and put the economy into crisis mode.  I don’t know that naming cabinet members early would have been wise because then you give the opposition more avenues for attack but hinting as much and talking tough about the Wall Street fat cats and the Congressional liberals that were in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s pockets may have had traction.  Joe the Plumber and the “redistribution of wealth” attack was great and did help McCain make some gains but it was too little, too late. 

Then of course there are the dozens of questions about Obama’s past associations.  If it weren’t for Sarah Palin, these issues would not have been addressed at all and I think in the right forum and put forth agressively, they could have held great sway.  I still wonder how Barack Obama sat in Reverend Wright’s church for 20 years and never once objected to what was being said.  McCain refused to make it an issue and now we have a president elect with some very questionable associations. 

Money, money, money.  John McCain and Barack Obama both agreed to use the public campaign finance system thus limiting themselves to $85 million in public funding for the general election.  John McCain stood true to his word, Obama backed out.  While I certainly have to question the honesty of Obama after making this move, it was rather shrewd as he went on to raise more than $200 million in the general election thus allowing Obama to buy six times the number of ads McCain could.  There are numerous questions of exactly where a good bit of this money came from as many cases of donors violating campaign finance law have been reported.  Further, it most likely also ushers in a new era of big money in politics that I do not think is a good thing. 

Sarah Palin.  McCain campaign “sources” have already started finger pointing at Sarah Palin as one of the causes however I believe she had the opposite effect.  In the end, statistics show that voters don’t really care who the VP nominee is – they vote for the top of the ticket.  That would certainly indicate that any effect she had was minimal. 

However, prior to McCain announcing Palin as his choice, his campaign was languishing and desperately in need to something to get them out in front of the Obama media-backed celebrity machine.  Palin did just that.  Just as importantly, she energized the conservative base, something which McCain could never do (see above).  Many conservatives were never thrilled with John McCain as the nominee (he was my # 3 choice) and Palin helped provide them someone with views they could identify with.  Without her, the outcome could have been much worse. 

The failure of the McCain campaign to seize on the opportunity provided and excitement generated by Sarah Palin is something that confounds me.  When the campaign did let her talk, they initially threw her to left wing anchors like Katie Couric and Charles Gibson and obviously had told her to just stick to the talking points which did nothing but make her look bad.  The campaign turned away more friendly environments and interviews that could have helped America get to know this extraordinary woman and give her an opportunity to get acclimated to the national campaign environment.  It all made no sense whatsoever.  Before long the media was on a mission to destroy her and yet the campaign still continued to keep a lid on Palin.  It really wasn’t until the final week or two of the campaign they let her speak freely and by then it was too late.  She may not have been up on some issues and most likely would have misspoke a time or two but she is a natural born politician and she has an ability to connect to people the way so few can – her speech at the RNC showed that. 

Reports have been coming out since Election Day about Palin’s level of knowledge, how she conducted herself behind the scenes, and more.  I wouldn’t put any stock in it.  These are coming from campaign staffers looking to salvage a job and their reputations. 

The Fourth Estate – the press.  The so-called “impartial” press was quite possibly one of the biggest factors in the outcome of the election.  Rather than reporting the news, the press became the news.  There is no doubt that most of the media was in the tank for Obama and it has been well documented.  Non-partisan media watchdogs like Pew Research, the Media Research Center and the Project for Excellence in Journalism have all studied the topic and the results are astounding – coverage of McCain was predominately negative while Obama received much more favorable coverage.  Even when something negative was available about Obama, it rarely was mentioned.  If Palin misspoke it was front page news.  If Biden did, it was skipped right over, despite the fact his gaffes were much more significant and much more common. 

With only a few exceptions, print and broadcast media become nothing more than a mouthpiece for Obama’s campaign and as a result were able to influence voters.  Certainly the media has always leaned left but never to the levels that they did during this election cycle.  The bias was palatable in everything we saw.  This is a tragedy unto itself and the media has shamed itself and damaged its credibility severely.  Heck, when even Dan Rather comes out and says as much you know there is a problem!

Click the read more link for a video analysis and list.

Video analysys from Breitbart.tv (long)

Partial List of Biden debate misstatements:

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people’s health insurance coverage — they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska — she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it’s not a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation — he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.”

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won’t pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

The result IMHO?  I think if looked at objectively it was a draw overall.  One would think that the Washington insider Biden would be able to knock off a newcomer to the national scene pretty easily but that was not the case at all.  Palin proved to be very resilient, familiar with the key issues, and was able to portray herself as an “outside the beltway” reformer able to bring change to D.C.  I think both did their parties a favor and while they certainly helped shore up their core supporters who were going to vote for them anyway, I don’t know that either did enough to sway the crucial swing voters.  

I was happy to see that it seemed like McCain’s people finally took the chains off of Palin and let her be herself.  It was about a month late coming and I just hope it wasn’t too late.  They need to get her out there taking interviews with local news folks at campaign stops, talking to the press gaggle that follows her and yes, she needs to talk to the mainstream media.  Will the MSM do their best to trip her up?  Of course but in the end I believe she will handle herself well and do more to help the ticket.   

All eyes now look to next Tuesday when McCain and Obama face off.  My fervent hope is that McCain takes the kid gloves off for once and stops playing nice.

Doing some research, we quickly find out that ABC did some pretty danged “creative editing” of the interview.  Transcripts show key portions of Palin’s and Gibson’s comments were cut out and the result entirely changed the context and complexion of the interview.  Any objective person, after reading what was really said, would have a hard time arguing that Gibson and ABC did not show quite a bias in what they chose to show.  It is very disheartening. 

On a more personal note, Gibson was quite condescending and I wanted to knock those puny glasses off of his face as he looked down his nose at Palin. 

For more information, please see:

NewsBusters – ABC News Edited Out Key Parts of Sarah Palin Interview

NewsBusters – Charlie Gibson’s Attempt to Twist Sarah Palin’s Words

Mark Levin Show – EXCERPTS: Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin

Fox News – ABC Misrepresents Palin Quote in “Holy War” Question

See below – Courtesy Real Clear Politics.