ペイリンが辞職した。
米アラスカ州の女性知事、サラ・ペイリン氏は、同州ワシラでの記者会見
で、2010年の知事改選に「出馬を見送る」と述べた上、今月26日付で知事
を辞職する意向を表明した。ペイリン知事は、昨年の米大統領選で、
共和党の副大統領候補に指名され、大統領候補のマケイン上院議員とペア
で本選に出馬していた。
ホッケーママとして、マケインのパートナーとして、米大統領選で話題に
なったアラスカ知事が辞職した。
次期大統領選出馬を視野に入れ、政治活動に専念と言うマスメディアも
あるが、マスメディアに追い回されるのに嫌気がさしたのだろう。
・アラスカ以外に興味が無く、基礎知識も無かったため、恥をさらした。
・子供同伴の会議に子供の旅費は自腹を払った。
等色々あったが、保守的な宗教観から未だに支持者が多いらしい。
知事任期の途中で業務を放棄したと評価され、次期大統領選では、苦戦
されると言われる。
2012年のサラ・ペイリンキャンペーンを期待していたが、だめになり
そうだ。ダウン症の子供、高校生の娘の出産、娘婿の母親が薬物不法
所持等、本人以外の親族の私生活がマスメディアに取り上げられれば
誰でも嫌気がさす。
致命的だったのは、娘の出産を下手な冗談で笑いものにされ、謝罪らし
きコメントで話題づくりにされたことかもしれない。
Sarah Palin: A Discussion about Her Political Future [FOX News]
Rick Sanchez Is Sarah Palin Quitting Because She Is Pregnant Again??
Sarah Palin Resigns As Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin's Resignation Press Conference
Sarah Palin's Complete Resignation Press Conference - Part 1
Sarah Palin's Complete Resignation Press Conference - Part 2
Sarah Palin Resigns as Alaska Governor!
David Letterman Apologizes
CWA President Talks Letterman-Palin on CNN Headline News
Juno From Juneau: The Bristol Palin Story
---ペイリン米アラスカ州知事が辞意表明---
2009.7.4 08:16
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/world/america/090704/amr0907040827002-n1.htm
【ワシントン＝山本秀也】米アラスカ州の女性知事、サラ・ペイリン氏（４５）は３日、同州ワシラでの記者会見で、２０１０年の知事改選に「出馬を見送る」と述べた上、今月２６日付で知事を辞職する意向を表明した。ペイリン知事は、昨年の米大統領選で、共和党の副大統領候補に指名され、大統領候補のマケイン上院議員とペアで本選に出馬していた。
突然の辞意表明について、米メディアは、ペイリン知事が２０１２年の次期大統領選出馬を視野に入れ、政治活動に専念する可能性を伝えている。
ワシラ市内の自宅前で、ペイリン知事は、私人としての生活に戻ることを挙げる一方、「違ったスケールで、行政府の外側からでも前向きな変化を起こせる」と述べるなど、在野での政治活動の継続を示唆した。
共和党内では先月、同党知事会長を務めたサウスカロライナ州のサンフォード知事と、ネバダ州選出のエンサイン上院議員をめぐり、それぞれ女性スキャンダルが相次いで発覚。両氏とも、これまで有力視された次期大統領選出馬の可能性が遠のいていた。
ペイリン知事は２００６年に初当選し現在１期目。任期満了は１年半後の２０１０年１２月だった。後任知事には、同じく共和党のパーネル副知事が２６日付で就任する。
---Palin Opens Herself Up to Criticism---
By Dan Balz
Sunday, July 5, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070401452.html
Does Sarah Palin have a political future?
Until she declares otherwise, the assumption will be that she remains interested at least in exploring a presidential campaign for 2012. But after announcing that she intends to resign as governor of Alaska, that future comes with bigger question marks than ever.
Her judgment and political instincts were again called into question by her decision to quit. It was not a huge surprise. Many Republicans believed she might forgo seeking reelection to free herself up for a national campaign. But stepping away with almost 18 months left in her first term was beyond almost anyone's expectation.
Other prospective presidential candidates have decided to leave office. Mitt Romney chose not to run for a second term in Massachusetts when he decided to seek the presidency in 2008. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty already has announced that he will not run for another term next year and is seen as a likely candidate for the 2012 GOP nomination.
Neither Romney nor Pawlenty quit as Palin did, midstream. And Palin's explanation for stepping down was even more inexplicable. She described the abandonment of her duties almost in noble terms, saying that by leaving now she would avoid the temptation that she ascribed to others who have not run again.
"I thought about, well, how much fun some governors have as lame ducks," she said. "They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions. So many politicians do that. And then I thought, that's what is wrong. . . . They hit the road, they draw a paycheck, they kind of milk it, and I'm not going to put Alaskans through that."
That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the responsibilities of governing. Every president becomes a lame duck in his second term. The same for governors, since many are term-limited. Do they "milk it," as Palin put it, or do most continue working hard to the end to finish off their terms with real accomplishments?
Palin need only look back at the GOP's favorite president for an answer. Some of Ronald Reagan's most significant foreign policy accomplishments came in the final two years of his presidency. Most politicians would find offensive her description of how they spend their final year or two in office.
Palin is entitled to resign the office. But in disparaging others to justify her course, she has left herself open to legitimate criticism that she is walking away for the wrong reasons.
"One of the worst things a politician can do is reinforce the rap against her," Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, said yesterday in an e-mail message. "Resigning before her first term is up gives ammunition to all her critics."
Palin also cited the toll that life in the spotlight has taken on her and her family, and certainly it has been substantial. She talked about the relentless digging by political opponents and by the news media. She said she and her husband have accrued personal legal bills of half a million dollars from what she called frivolous ethics charges and "silly accusations." She said the state has spent millions on these probes.
Virtually all those complaints have been dismissed. She agreed to repay the state about $10,000 for expenses involving trips with her children that were initially paid by the state. She was cleared of violating the law in the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. But a special counsel found last October that she violated a state ethics law.
Palin hopes her resignation will bring all these investigations and questions to an end, and perhaps that will be the case. But is fear of frivolous accusations justification for resigning her office? If she decides to run in 2012, be certain that her rivals will question why she walked away when things got uncomfortable.
It's possible Palin needs a timeout from her political career to reassess the future. She doesn't need to make a decision now about whether she wants to run for president, but if she hopes to play any constructive public role in the future, she must use this period wisely. Whatever her attributes, and they are valuable, there are obvious gaps in her political resume that must be addressed.
Beyond energy policy, there is no issue with which she is associated. She has not used the months since the campaign ended to fill out her political profile. Beyond predictable criticism of President Obama as a proponent of big government, she has not been part of the national debate.
She could use her new free time to deepen her knowledge of foreign policy. Rather than seeing international travel as a way to milk the system as a lame duck, she could profitably spend time familiarizing herself with national security and diplomatic challenges.
Her statement Friday raised anew the question of her view of the world beyond her adopted home state. "We're strategic in the world as the air crossroads of the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent," she said of Alaska.
Gary Bauer, the conservative chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, issued a statement yesterday saying reports of Palin's political death are exaggerated. "Sarah Palin is a force in the GOP and one of the most promising figures in American politics, whether she is governor of Alaska or not," he said. "A year from now, a lot of pundits may be eating their words."
Bauer is correct in asserting that Palin is a force within the party. What gives Palin a political future is that she has passionate supporters who form part of the Republican base. She has defied the odds throughout her career and might do so again.
Among social and religious conservatives -- "values voters," as they're known -- Palin will remain popular, though if she runs in 2012 she probably will have competition for those voters from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and perhaps others.
More fundamental is the question of whether she can break out beyond that core of support. No Republican has won the nomination in the modern era if he or she has been strongly opposed by the religious and cultural conservative base. That base alone, however, has generally not been enough to win the nomination, although as the party shrinks, the influence of those voters grows. Other prospective candidates have greater capacity to attract a wider coalition.
Palin is bringing this chapter of her life to a conclusion that is consistent with her style. The next chapter, if it includes another bid for public office, will test the limits of that style and the substance behind it.
---During Independence Celebrations in Alaska, Palin Is Low Key, Except Online---
By WILLIAM YARDLEY, SERGE F. KOVALESKI and JO BECKER
Published: July 4, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/us/05alaska.html?ref=global-home
There was Gov. Sarah Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, first in line behind the banner of the Valley Republican Women’s Club at the Independence Day parade here on Saturday. There were her mother, Sally, and a sister, Molly, and other family members.
So where was Ms. Palin a day after her surprising announcement that she would resign later this month? Not here in her hometown, an aide said, nor apparently in the limelight at the parade in the state capital, Juneau - celebrating Independence Day and the state’s 50th anniversary - that her official schedule said she would attend.
“I don’t know where she is,” said Mr. Heath, holding a dog’s leash. “Oh, I don’t want to talk about this.”
Not long after, the governor posted a message on her Twitter page saying that she was indeed watching the parade in Juneau.
“Lots of celebration of Independence & Alaska’s 50th Anniversary of Statehood, our “Year of Jubilee,’ ” Ms. Palin wrote.
Only a few people spotted the governor in person on the sidelines, and the parade director said later that he was unaware that she had attended.
As rumors spread, and many Alaskan lawmakers described a governor increasingly distracted by suitors from Hollywood, book publishers and national political ambitions, Ms. Palin did little to remove the mystery surrounding her explanation on Friday that her resignation was “best for Alaska.” Top elected officials who had met with her just days ago said they had no indication she was stepping down.
“How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country,” Ms. Palin wrote on her Facebook page on Saturday. “And though it’s honorable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make. But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.”
The governor that “for months now” she had consulted with friends, family and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell “about what is best for our wonderful state. I even made a few administrative changes over that course in time in preparation for yesterday.”
Ms. Palin did not specify what those changes were but there had been several changes in recent weeks, including the resignation of two top aides in the state health department, with one saying she was forced out because her views on abortion issues were not in line with those of the administration. Ms. Palin’s communications director left a few weeks ago, and his replacement, Dave Murrow, told The Anchorage Daily News that her resignation felt like a “punch in the gut.”
Senator Mark Begich and aides met with Mrs. Palin and her chief of staff on Wednesday afternoon, discussing everything from missile defense to plans for natural gas pipeline. Resignation never came up, his office said.
“It’s interesting that she would have a meeting with a sitting United States senator and pretend that it’s business as usual,” said Julie Hasquet, a spokeswoman for the senator.
A snapshot of Ms. Palin’s activities, as viewed through her daily schedules for May of this year, suggested a governor largely focused on the ceremonial aspects of her job. On most days, there are lengthy gaps in her schedules. On May 6, for example, the only items on Ms. Palin’s schedule were a 45-minute interview with Runner’s World and a meeting with guests at the governor’s house in Juneau. On May 22, Ms. Palin had four items listed on her schedule: promotions at the middle school in her hometown, a book dedication ceremony, a girls’ soccer game and an event at which her and her family dropped a puck at a hockey game.
Last fall, The Hollywood Reporter reported that several television executives were preparing to approach Ms. Palin about a television career and whether, for instance, she would be interested in a syndicated, and lucrative, talk show job. Ms. Palin has not had time to entertain any such offers, the associate said, though she has retained the Washington lawyer Robert B. Barnett, who handled her book contract with HarperCollins Publishers and is an experienced television deal-maker.
John Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer who helped set up Ms. Palin’s political action committee after the election, said Ms. Palin had spoken fondly about her stint as a sports TV anchor at KTUU, the NBC affiliate in Anchorage, in the late 1980s. “She really liked that,” he said. Asked whether Ms. Palin would be reticent about a high profile national television spot, given the scrutiny that would come along with it, he said, “Being in the media is different,” emphasizing the “in.”
“She might still get whacked, but nothing like she gets whacked now.”
Jim Rutenberg and Brian Stelter contributed reporting from New York.
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