Analysis
Alaska's governor Sarah Palin to resign, dooming her presidential pipe dream
Saturday, July 4th 2009, 4:48 AM
DeBerry, Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman/AP Sarah Palin announces that she is resigning as Governor of Alaska. Some Republican insiders say this dooms any hopes of a presidential bid.
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WASHINGTON - Sarah Palin's bizarre bailout dooms her chances of ever being President, Republican mandarins said Friday - but she was already finished.
The Alaska governor's disastrous star turn as John McCain's running mate, followed by her lurching, controversial encore on the national scene, had already sealed her fate - except, perhaps, with the GOP's most far-right wing.
Still, the experts were unanimously stunned to hear her walk off the job with 16 months left in her term - shrinking her résumé even more and surrendering the best platform she has beyond her double-edged celebrity status.
"If you aspire to the highest office in the land, then suddenly think your lieutenant governor can do a better job - not exactly a profile in courage," one party pro told the Daily News.
Few GOP insiders were surprised Palin decided against running for reelection. The Alaska statehouse is too isolated a locale for any politician aspiring to high national office, they said.
"You need to be in the Lower 48 to be credible politically," a senior adviser to several Republican Presidents noted.
But quitting mid-term with a rambling rant is not the way to get there.
"She proved she couldn't play in the big leagues last fall and now she's proven it again," one of the party's most prominent kingmakers said. "If you can't even handle a governorship, there's no way you can handle the White House.
"She couldn't win - but now she can't even run," added the official, who once was among her most fervent boosters.
"She has an incredibly thin résumé, a serious lack of gravitas, no coherent philosophy and the people around her are amateurs," another top Republican pol argued. "She's finished."
What do you think of Sarah Palin's sudden resignation? Click here and share your thoughts.
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