Take This Job and Shove It

The political world is buzzing over the resignation of Sarah Palin as governor of Alaska. I personally am not. Various pundits are suggesting that her national political career is over. That's probably so, but so what? Unlike most of the political establishment, she had a real life before she entered politics, and will have a real life to return to when her political aspirations are over. It's hard for me to see offhand what she gets in compensation that's worth enduring the cheapshots from David Letterman or Andrew Sullivan. To some extent we were lucky to have her for as long as we did.

Let's recall, the essential point of Palin's candidacy was bandwidth. That is, the Republican party is not defined by George W Bush, Congressional sex scandals, George Ryan, No Child Left Behind, or whatever else is left at its feet, fairly or otherwise. As Obama blunders and time passes this will less of an issue, and less justification to support Sarah Palin relative to Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, or whoever.