palin quitting as governor, why?

[All-American]

I believe it was Ferraro.

Exactly.

[TripletDaddy]

Let's see.....Palin resigns for no specific reason.

I am looking forward to the grainy VHS wedding night tape that is about to surface. Hopefully she puts that lipstick to good use!

[All-American]

Let's see.....Palin resigns for no specific reason.

I am looking forward to the grainy VHS wedding night tape that is about to surface. Hopefully she puts that lipstick to good use!

See, that's the thing. If my suggestion is so ludicrous, where is a better guess? If she's doing it to prepare for a run in 2012, then it demonstrates an even greater incompetency than if she hadn't been fully aware of what she was getting into in 2008. Republicans are scratching their heads, and Democrats are roasting her. As a political move, resigning is utterly foolish. And if she's not doing it for political reasons, it follows that she's resigning for personal reasons.

She's either a fairly incompetent politician, resigning because she's in over her head, or a REALLY incompetent politician resigning in hopes that doing so will help her win the White House. I think it is the former, rather than the latter.

[Babs]

See, that's the thing. If my suggestion is so ludicrous, where is a better guess? If she's doing it to prepare for a run in 2012, then it demonstrates an even greater incompetency than if she hadn't been fully aware of what she was getting into in 2008. Republicans are scratching their heads, and Democrats are roasting her. As a political move, resigning is utterly foolish. And if she's not doing it for political reasons, it follows that she's resigning for personal reasons.

She's either a fairly incompetent politician, resigning because she's in over her head, or a REALLY incompetent politician resigning in hopes that doing so will help her win the White House. I think it is the former, rather than the latter.

It's the latter. She's withdrawing because -- as you suggested -- she wants to curb the increasingly tabloid-y media exposure of her family. But why does she want that exposure to subside? It's because she fears it is undermining her credibility as a politician, and she wants to start ramping up for her next campaign. If you truly believe that she would implicitly admit that she's "in over her head," or permanently set aside her ambition for the sake of her family, I think you fail to understand what drives this woman. She's far, far too proud to ever admit defeat, or to let the bad guys win.

[LA Ute]

Maybe she thought the media would leave her daughter alone making her a little naive.

Speaking as I non-Palin fan, I wonder: What other candidate's kids have been subjected to the kind of scrutiny Palin's have been? I really can't think of anything to rival:

*what Bristol (the one who got pregnant) had to go through;

*the Letterman joke about Willow Palin (which he insists was about Bristol, somehow making the joke OK);

*the scrutiny on Trig, the Down Syndrome child; and

*the suggestions by Andrew Sullivan in The Atlantic that Bristol was Trig's real mother;

and on and on.

I wish McCain had not chosen Palin and I don't see her as the future of the GOP (but then again, I thought Reagan was a loser too, back in 1976). Still, I must admit that the level of hatred focused on her is very curious. My close friends who are liberals, especially women, admit that they can't explain why they detest her so. It's a visceral thing, I guess.

[Babs]

My close friends who are liberals, especially women, admit that they can't explain why they detest her so.

Tell me you're kidding. Perhaps your friends simply don't wish to bore you with the reasons. Every woman I know - conservative and liberal alike - can explain precisely why we find Palin so offensive. Palin is an affront to womankind. In her approach to her profession she embodies everything women have worked for decades to overcome.

You ask when's the last time a candidate's kids were subject to so much scrutiny. Let me pose another question: when's the last time you saw a politician campaign for votes with a wink into the camera and a flirty little smile?

[LA Ute]

Tell me you're kidding. Perhaps your friends simply don't wish to bore you with the reasons. Every woman I know - conservative and liberal alike - can explain precisely why we find Palin so offensive. Palin is an affront to womankind. In her approach to her profession she embodies everything women have worked for decades to overcome.

You ask when's the last time a candidate's kids were subject to so much scrutiny. Let me pose another question: when's the last time you saw a politician campaign for votes with a wink into the camera and a flirty little smile?

No, I am not kidding. Assuming Palin really does such things, ar eyou suggesting that her family deserves the treatment it's gotten? Also, I am quite sure that very few conservative women detest her. I don't see that among the female conservative commentariat. My point is, the outright hatred a very interesting phenomenon. Clinton hatred and Bush hatred are too, but the Palin hatred is in a class by itself.

[Babs]

No, I am not kidding. Assuming Palin really does such things, ar eyou suggesting that her family deserves the treatment it's gotten?

"assuming" she does such things? That's funny.

Of course her family doesn't deserve such treatment, anymore than Chelsea deserved the scathing treatment she suffered. The treatment of the family is irrelevant to this issue.

I found it surprising that none of your friends can identify the reasons for their skepticism, dislike, or antipathy of/toward Ms. Palin. The list of reasons both political and personal is considerable. And the women I know, most of whom are conservative, are intelligent and articulate enough to explain why she's both a political liability to the party and a personal affront to women.

[LA Ute]

"assuming" she does such things? That's funny.

Of course her family doesn't deserve such treatment, anymore than Chelsea deserved the scathing treatment she suffered. The treatment of the family is irrelevant to this issue.

I found it surprising that none of your friends can identify the reasons for their skepticism, dislike, or antipathy of/toward Ms. Palin. The list of reasons both political and personal is considerable. And the women I know, most of whom are conservative, are intelligent and articulate enough to explain why she's both a political liability to the party and a personal affront to women.

I guess I should clarify: They can all cite reasons for their hatred of her, but their reasons are all visceral. Hating someone usually is. Again, as a poli sci major and political junkie, I find the bilious, vituperative nature of our modern politics fascinating. I think it was worse in the early days of the Republic, but it's interesting today just the same.

[cowboy]

...she's ... a personal affront to women.

I've never heard this argument developed particularly well by anybody.

[il Padrino Ute]

Aside from not wanting to slaughter the unborn, what is it about Palin that women hate?

She hasn't depended on her husband to support her. She got a degree and has had a career. She's been a working mother and shown that she can have both a career and a family.

Perhaps a woman here can explain the hatred to this male?

[TripletDaddy]

Do people really hate Palin? That is a strong word. I can't think of a single person that I hate. And with the exception of YOhio's purposely inflammatory "Thanks Dayton" thread and maybe two of UteSitar's argyle v-necks, I can't think of much in life that I hate.

I am pretty sure people are annoyed by Palin and think she is a moron. But how can people really hate her? They don't even know her.

Here is what Palin is doing: she is quitting a job in a dead-end state so that she can hang out in New York, California, Texas, Illinois, and Florida full-time without being questioned about abandoning her gubernatorial duties in Alaska. She will raise some money and then get absolutely destroyed in 2012.

I keep asking the same question over and over and never cease to be amazed.....but just who is advising this woman? From Day 1 she seems to do most things the wrong way. Quitting your job as Governor because you are "frsutrated" and "wanting to make change in a new direction" is only going to backfire on her in a presidential campaign. "So, Ms. Palin, if elected President, will you quit when you get frustrated?"

[il Padrino Ute]

Do people really hate Palin? That is a strong word. I can't think of a single person that I hate. And with the exception of YOhio's purposely inflammatory "Thanks Dayton" thread and maybe two of UteSitar's argyle v-necks, I can't think of much in life that I hate.

I am pretty sure people are annoyed by Palin and think she is a moron. But how can people really hate her? They don't even know her.

Here is what Palin is doing: she is quitting a job in a dead-end state so that she can hang out in New York, California, Texas, Illinois, and Florida full-time without being questioned about abandoning her gubernatorial duties in Alaska. She will raise some money and then get absolutely destroyed in 2012.

I keep asking the same question over and over and never cease to be amazed.....but just who is advising this woman? From Day 1 she seems to do most things the wrong way. Quitting your job as Governor because you are "frsutrated" and "wanting to make change in a new direction" is only going to backfire on her in a presidential campaign. "So, Ms. Palin, if elected President, will you quit when you get frustrated?"

I think people do hate Palin, particularly Olbermann and those of his ilk.

[YOhio]

Look at Palin trying to steal the spotlight from America on the eve of her birthday. Has she no shame?

[il Padrino Ute]

Look at Palin trying to steal the spotlight from America on the eve of her birthday. Has she no shame?

I think more people are upset that the shift of focus has moved to her from Michael Jackson's death.

I'm just a wee bit annoyed that everyone has overlooked Jose Canseco's birthday today.