Palin Announces Resignation

WASILLA, Alaska (KCBS/AP) -- Sarah Palin’s surprising decision to step down as governor of Alaska and not seek a second term may set the stage for a 2012 White House bid.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate said her last day in office would be July 26, but did not explain the reasoning behind her decision. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the end of the month to fill the remainder of Palin’s term.

“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,” Palin said in a statement released by her office.

  KCBS' Chris Filippi reports

She was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform of ethics reform, enjoying an extended honeymoon with lawmakers and voters. Polls put her popularity around 80 percent until a descent into partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign.

“Every politician who’s looking at the next presidential election but faces re-eelction between now and then has to decide whether or not to face that re-election,” said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution.

Although her resignation is surprising, Whalen said, it does clear the way for her to focus on another shot at the Oval Office.

“She now starts with a clean break. I suspect she’ll probably write a book in the not-too-distant future, make some money off of that. She’s free to go around the country and give speeches, form a political action committee and just start going through the motions of running for president,” he said.

Palin's family endured ridicule in the public eye. She complained that her 14-month-old son, Trig, who was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, had been "mocked and ridiculed by some mean-spirited adults recently." She didn't elaborate.

Palin's delivery of two weeks' notice rattles a Republican Party plagued with setbacks in recent weeks, including extramarital affairs disclosed by two other 2012 presidential prospects, Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

California Republican Party Chair Ron Nehring said Palin would make a formidable national candidate because of her experience running alongside Arizona Senator John McCain last year.

“There’s a certain amount of familiarity with the American people,” Nehring said. Her staff has “developed a network. They’re familiar with the rigors of the campaign.”

(jro)