Sarah Palin Stepping Down as Alaska's Governor

Sarah Palin made this bomb shell announcement early this afternoon outside her Wasilla home. Two and a half years into her first term as governor of Alaska, Governor Palin is leaving the state in the capable hands of her Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell, with his swearing in slated to be on July 25.

In a meandering speech that went from not wanting to be a lame duck governor, to being upset with investigations that, in her mind, are wasting tax dollars of the good people of Alaska, to talking about unfair media attacks on her family, Sarah Palin stunned the political establishment with her announcement.

Supporters and critics alike are shaking their heads as they try to decipher another confusing political decision by someone who has been considered by many to be a rising star in the GOP. Quitting half way through her first term as governor is not wise, especially if she has her sights set on a higher office. This announcement, to many political talking heads, has ended the political aspirations of Sarah Palin whether she knows it or not. Whether she thought it was a brilliant move to ready herself for a run for the presidency in 2012, most political pundits are in agreement that a decision to quit her job as governor half way through her first term is nothing but political suicide.

For someone with the status of Sarah Palin to drop a bombshell announcement on a Friday before a major federal holiday, has left many in the political world scratching their heads and wondering if there's another shoe that's going to be dropped in the near future. Politicians wanting to hide news use the Friday day news dump in hopes of burying a story. Many are now questioning Palin true motives and wonder if she's hiding something? Sarah Palin has not really been considered to have a sharp political mind or a politician who has seasoned advisers around her. Ethics investigations have dogged her since her return to Alaska following John McCain and Palin's failed bid for the White House. The news today opens up speculation that perhaps she is quitting before something comes out no one knows about yet.

With falling poll numbers in Alaska, residents of our 49^th state have reason to wonder just how good of a job Palin is doing as governor. Her focus seems to be somewhere else and some feel their state has not had adequate leadership from her since her vice-presidential run. Instead of handing control of the state over to her Lieutenant Governor during the presidential campaign, she remained at the helm even though she didn't return to do the state's business during the campaign leading up to the 2008 election.

Sarah Palin is the only one who knows the real reason why she has decided to quit as governor of Alaska. No one can fault her if she has chosen to give her undivided attention to her family. As a mother of a special needs child, Palin has shown she is a devoted mother and has her family's best interest in mind. However, comments from her press briefing indicated there was more to her decision to resign than just her family. Reading between the lines, one gets the impression she is not finished with politics. She is either taking a risky political move in an attempt to enter the national arena as a viable Republican contender for the White House in 2012 or she's ready to retire from public life and raise a family. Time will tell, but the question is, will she have enough political juice left to move into the bigger tent of American politics and can she hold on to her supporters?