Sarah Palin resigns as Alaska governor

ArticleData Array ( [Article] => Array ( [article_id] => 1044497 [headline] => Sarah Palin resigns as Alaska governor [abstract] => In a surprise move, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she was stepping down and would not seek re-election, fuelling swift speculation of a possible 2012 White House bid. [keywords] => palin, alaska [content] =>

In a surprise move, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she was stepping down and would not seek re-election, fuelling swift speculation of a possible 2012 White House bid.
  
Palin, who was Republican John McCain's controversial running mate in his failed 2008 presidential campaign, said she would step aside as governor and be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell at the end of July.

‘Time to pass the ball for victory’
  
Palin, 45, told a press conference at her lakefront home in Wasilla, Alaska, that she wanted to "take a stand and effect change, not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain."
  
A former sports journalist known as "Sarah Barracuda" when she played high school basketball, Palin said it was "time to pass the ball for victory."
  
In leaving her post before the end of her first term, Palin, the first woman to stand on a Republican presidential ticket, will be able to travel across the country more freely and build up a national political team, clearing the way for a potential presidential bid of her own.
  
A June 2 CNN poll had Palin running neck-and-neck with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and ex-Arkansas governor Mick Huckabee in the top three favorites to head up the Republican 2012 ticket.
  
But shooting down any speculation her announcement was abrupt, Palin said: "Some are going to question the timing of this, and let me say this decision has been in the works for quite a while."
  
Staying in power as a lame-duck official after deciding not to run for re-election "would just be another dose of 'politics as usual,' something I campaigned against and will always oppose," she added.

Unexpected announcement
  
The announcement came as a complete surprise to Alaskans, including members of her own cabinet.
  
"Frankly, we didn't know about it 'till we got out there," Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin told AFP, saying he simply received a call Friday morning asking if he could go to the governor's home for the press conference.
  
"It was pretty shocking. It wasn't anything I was expecting to hear."
  
Galvin declined to speculate about Palin's political ambitions. "She doesn't like the idea of being a lame duck. That's pretty understandable. I don't know if it reflects on anything else," he said.
  
Palin has only led the vast, oil-producing northwestern state since December 2006, when she became the youngest person ever to hold Alaska's governorship.
  
"I am determined to take the right path for Alaska," said Palin, "even though it is unconventional and it is not so comfortable."
  
As governor, Palin has earned approval ratings as high as 80 percent, but her popularity dipped in the wake of a series of ethics complaints and her failed run with McCain.

Republican’s ‘new cheerleader’
  
The 2008 presidential race saw her ascend overnight from the obscure governor of Alaska to McCain's running mate and her party's popular, but polarizing new cheerleader.
  
The ex-beauty queen, moose hunter and mother of five wooed conservative Americans by weaving together traditional values and dazzling telegenics, energizing the Republican Party's grassroots.
  
Palin drew massive Republican crowds but also fuelled a backlash from Democrats and Independents against herself and McCain.
  
While she has cast herself as an anti-corruption star, Palin was found to have violated state ethics rules governing public officials.
  
A state troopers union brought an ethics complaint against Palin, alleging she and other officials had disclosed confidential information on her former brother-in-law, Mike Wooten, and systematically sought to fire the fire state trooper.
  
Earlier this week, the Anchorage Daily News reported that the ethics complaint against the governor and other senior officials from her administration had cost the state personnel board nearly 300,000 dollars, the bulk of it from the "Troopergate" investigation.
  
"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.
  
Palin, the Daily News said, has reportedly spent over 600,000 dollars in personal legal bills to fight the accusations.
  
Despite a series of blunders in high-profile interviews during the presidential campaign, the governor retains star power in the battered Republican Party, still reeling from its heavy defeat by Democrat President Barack Obama in the November presidential elections.
 

[start_date] => 04 July 2009 | 09:57:15 AM [comments_allowed] => 0 [source] => AFP [commentCount] => 0 [video] => [image] => Array ( [caption] => Palin will hand over power to Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell at the end of July (Getty) [useRegularImage] => 1 [media_library_id] => 98937 [site_id] => 1 [media_library_group_id] => 0 [media_usage_id] => 0 [filename] => site_1_rand_1113998884_palin_resigns_0407_b_g.jpg [title] => palin_resigns_0407_b_g_1113998884 [description] => file:site_1_rand_1113998884_palin_resigns_0407_b_g.jpg [type] => [height] => 338 [width] => 450 [source] => [video_hi] => [video_lo] => [section] => [display_order] => 0 [create_date] => 2009-07-04 10:01:00 [active] => 1 [media_usage] => Article Large [usageWidth] => 300 [usageHeight] => 225 ) [imagePath] => http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/ [audio] => [reporter] => [relatedLinks] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [id] => 1017971 [label] => Sarah Palin memoir due out next year [display_order] => 1 [type] => Article ) [1] => Array ( [id] => 1027782 [label] => Letterman laughs last in Palin showdown [display_order] => 2 [type] => Article ) [2] => Array ( [id] => 1015880 [label] => Palin opposes abortion during speech [display_order] => 3 [type] => Article ) ) [relatedArticles] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [article_id] => 1017971 [headline] => Sarah Palin memoir due out next year [abstract] => Former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin will publish a memoir to come out in the US in 2010, the year she is up for re-election as Alaska's governor. [content] =>

Former vice presidential contender Sarah Palin will publish a memoir to come out in the United States in Spring 2010, the year she is up for re-election as Alaska's governor.

A Palin book has been rumoured virtually from the time the 2008 election ended.

Although Republicans presidential candidate Senator John McCain and Palin were easily beaten by Democrats Barack Obama and Joseph Biden in November, Palin emerged a favourite among conservatives, an object of tabloid gossip and - as the only candidate in the race who had never written a memoir - a natural for a publishing deal.

Story told 'unfiltered'

"There's been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered," Palin said during a brief telephone interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press.

Palin's memoir, currently untitled and to be published by HarperCollins, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year's campaign, to her conservative political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp.

(She and the baby's father, Levi Johnston, have since ended their relationship.)

'Clearing misinterpretations'

"In fairness to my family, this is going be a good opportunity for them, too, because there have been so many misperceptions out there about who we are and what we believe in, and I'm excited to get to put my journalism degree to work and tell my story as it relates to my family," said Palin, 45, who in 1987 graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism.

Palin declined to name any specific misunderstandings and avoided detailed comments about her family, her political aspirations or about the divide in the Republican Party between moderates and conservatives, a divide her vice presidential run helped widen.

The book will be co-released by the HarperCollins imprint Harper and, for the Christian market, by the HarperCollins-owned Zondervan.

Presidential ambition denied

A memoir (or two) have become a virtual requirement for White House seekers, especially after Obama's The Audacity of Hope and Dreams From My Father established him as a stylist and storyteller with a vast following.

Although Palin denied any presidential ambition during Tuesday's interview, she did pick the most presidential of literary representatives, Washington lawyer Robert Barnett, to handle negotiations.

Barnett's clients include Obama and former presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton.

'Multi-million dollar deal'

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Palin was widely expected to get a multimillion-dollar contract. Barnett and Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham both declined to offer details.

Palin will work with a collaborator, to be determined.

"She's obviously going to be engaged in the whole process of the book," said Burnham, adding that the role of the collaborator would depend on who was chosen.

"Every word of the book will be her words," Barnett said.

'Unpretentious lifestyle'

Palin and Burnham said the memoir will emphasise Palin's Alaskan upbringing, and the governor will talk about her "unpretentious" lifestyle.

Burnham described the book as the story of an Alaskan encountering a national audience, "the soccer mom and the political operative, and how one became the other".

Palin has never written a book and her critics, noting her disjointed television interviews, have questioned whether she could. Two years ago, Palin told PBS' Charlie Rose that her favourite writers were CS Lewis ("very, very deep") and a Runner's World magazine columnist, Dr George Sheehan.

Biographies of former politicians

Asked on Tuesday about her reading, Palin mentioned that she "really enjoyed" former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning Personal History and cited works by Obama, McCain and Bill Clinton, whose My Life she read "just recently".

"Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up.

"And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state," Palin said.

"I've read a variety of books, and that helps shape my opinions and my views."

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 13 May 2009 [articletime] => 13 May 2009 [display_order] => 1 ) [1] => Array ( [article_id] => 1027782 [headline] => Letterman laughs last in Palin showdown [abstract] =>

David Letterman has deftly played it both ways on his "Late Show" TV show as he apologised for wisecracks aimed earlier in the week at the expense of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and one of her teenage daughters.

[content] =>

David Letterman deftly played it both ways on his "Late Show" TV show as he apologised for wisecracks aimed earlier in the week at the expense of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and one of her teenage daughters - even as he milked the situation for more laughs.

"Of course, we make mistakes left and right," he said as he began a lengthy discourse that blended flashes of contrition with moments of hilarity as he took more pokes at Palin and her family.

Video: Watch Letterman's 'apology' here

Letterman had made several jokes on Monday about the Palin family's visit to New York.

His Top Ten list featured "Highlights of Sarah Palin's Trip," and included: "Bought makeup at Bloomingdale's to update her 'slutty flight attendant' look."

But the diciest joke centred on the family attending a Yankees baseball game.

Letterman said "an awkward moment" occurred for Palin when, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by (Yankee third baseman) Alex Rodriguez."

Without naming her, the joke seemed to refer to Palin's 18-year-old daughter Bristol, an unwed mother.

But it was 14-year-old daughter Willow, not Bristol, who had been at the game.

Todd Palin issued a statement that said "any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."

And Sarah Palin charged Letterman with "sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity."

"I am not a celebrity," said a deadpan Letterman, interrupting himself as he read the statementsaloud on Wednesday's show. "I'm 62 years old, but I'm not a celebrity."

He denied the joke was meant to be about Willow Palin.

"I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl," he said, dropping his signature sarcasm. "I don't think it's funny. I would never think it was funny."

"I'm not necessarily proud of these jokes," he said in a more ironically self-deprecating moment.

"We do stuff all the time and our objective here is to get a laugh, and thank God we don't have to go to the Hague and the World Court to defend them. It's a joke and that's all it's supposed to be."

Before he was done, he tried to boil down the situation into two key points, which he stated with playful precision:

"Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes.

"Did I suggest that it was OK for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No."

He also invited Palin to be a guest on his show, saying, "I think we could put these differences behind us." But the offer, extended to both Palin and her husband ("or leave Todd at home," Letterman suggested), was turned down on Thursday.

"The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show," said Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton. "Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

 

[content_type_id] => 3 [site_name] => World News Australia [articledate] => 12 June 2009 [articletime] => 12 June 2009 [display_order] => 2 ) [2] => Array ( [article_id] => 1015880 [headline] => Palin opposes abortion during speech [abstract] => Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has criticised President Barack Obama for supporting abortion rights. [content] =>

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has criticised President Barack Obama for supporting abortion rights and challenged the idea that unplanned pregnancies are a nuisance that can be solved by abortion.

Palin, the 2008 US Republican vice-presidential candidate, spoke to an overflow crowd organisers said numbered 3,000 at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life banquet on Thursday night.

Some in the crowd wore white "Palin 2012" T-shirts, hoping she will be the Republican presidential candidate in 2012.

Earlier, Republican National Chairman Michael Steele described her as one of the party's standard bearers, though he said it was too early to judge what her standing would be in three years.

Palin said the challenges she faced during her pregnancy with her son Trig, who was born with Down syndrome, gave her an opportunity to live out her anti-abortion beliefs. She said she prayed often during her pregnancy, especially after tests revealed her son would be born with the condition.

"The moment he was born, I knew that moment my prayers had been answered," Palin said. "Trig is a miracle. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I want other women to have that opportunity."

She challenged the notion that children must be born perfect and that unplanned pregnancies are inconvenient and can be ended by abortion. "I know for sure my son is perfect just as he is, made in the image of God," she said.

She asked the crowd to keep working for the "culture of life" in America.

"Life is ordained, life is precious," she said.

Palin said women who can't give birth should have the opportunity to adopt children who might otherwise be aborted. She mentioned that her own daughter Bristol became pregnant as an unmarried teen and has since given birth to a son.

Palin also took Obama to task for his support of abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.

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