If This Was A Shrewd Move, I’d Hate To See The Dumb Plan

Governor Sarah Louise Heath Palin quits, but she is not a quitter. She is, of course, leaving office in order to pursue the higher goal of uniting Americans behind Conservative values such as energy independence (read drilling for oil) and other such items. While energy independence is a lofty goal, drilling for oil is not. Perhaps she is morphing into Mom from Futurama again. In the show Bender’s Game, Mom says “do we care enough to drill for dark matter even in an Alaska Wildlife Refuge?” Well, part of the problem is that drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge would be a losing proposition since it would still cost more to extract that oil than it would ever make even at the best of estimates. Likely those “Conservative Values” will include things like homophobia, racism, and a return to the era of unabashed sexism that made this country the “paragon of virtue” it was in the past. The past where men were free to cheat on their wives and go beat up gays, blacks, and Hispanics without fear of ever having to be tried for their crimes. Of course, Gov- er Soon To Be Ex-Governor Palin does not care about those petty little details.

A recent article at the Daily Beast discussed how Governor Palin was making a brilliant move because the campaigns start earlier and earlier every cycle and this way she’s getting a leg up on the competition. Seriously. Here is the problem with that theory, politicians for as long as I have been alive are always looking towards the next election. This does not matter even if it is six years away, and it does not matter even if they are likely to run unopposed. Politicians are always on the campaign trail, and the best place to be on the campaign trail is in their current office. Yes, they do quick tours, and show up for speeches now and again, but only a politician who has decided to walk away from politics actually does not care about that next election even if they are running for President. Looking back to the founding of this country, politicians are always interested in the next election. They try to strike a balance between doing things that are unpopular and doing things that are, but they are always looking to their constituents and what they will do.

Certainly some choose not to run for reelection in order to run for the next higher office. That is not uncommon. Governors Howard Dean and Mitt Romney both left office at the end of their terms rather than run for President while in their offices. Of course, both men were facing stormy seas at home, but they still finished out their term. Very rarely do we see someone resign their seat or office in order to run for the next highest office. This was the case of Senator Bob Dole who chose to resign as Senator to run against President Bill Clinton in 1996. Of course, Dole had been a Senator for some time, and the rigors of being both a Presidential candidate and an active Senator might have been too much for a man of his age. That Senator John McCain chose to remain as Senator while running for President is admirable (I still did not vote for him).

No one who has ever quit midterm, however, has ever succeeded in getting any higher. Let us presume that Governor Palin is determined to run for President in 2012, and that she needs a long run up campaign in order to do so. Here is the problem with that. Most people do not even pay close attention to the campaign until after the primaries have finished. The average voter will not even care about Governor Palin until around September of 2012. Quitting to run for President in 2009 does not make sense. It makes no more sense than her rambling speech on why she was resigning.

The only thing I can understand from what she stated was this. Yes, the commute from Wasilla to Juno is a pain in the butt. Even Governor Jim Douglas does not commute home every night and he lives less than an hour and a half from his home town (Vermont can be traversed in approximately four hours from Massachusetts to Canada). Most politicians live in the capital during the week and in their home towns during the weekends. In fact, most politicians live like that unless they are within easy commute to home like Joe Biden did while he was a Senator.

Honestly, the rambling speech and the subsequent butt covering by Governor Palin is more of an indication that she did not really think through what was going to be next. If you cannot give a clear, honest reason for leaving office early, then you really have not figured out why. Either that, or you are hiding it. Even if the clear, honest reason is ‘I am finding out that trying to raise my son is harder than expected and I am needed at home a lot more than I am in Juno’ it has to be believable. Complaining about the ethics complaints and the media are not really believable excuses. First of all, most of the ethics complaints date to before the Vice Presidential run, and second, the media scapegoat has been trotted out too often.

Governor Palin would make a wonderful method actor. She is someone who has that ability to shed one identity for another as the need fits. Unfortunately, like so many method actors, she has become hollowed out when not in one of those personae. Footage from before the election show that Governor Palin was this articulate, well spoken politician. Whether we agree with her views or not, she was at least able to give a good impression of someone with a brain. During the election, though, she took on this hick persona which was intended to endear people to her. Unfortunately, it created this caricature which was easily mocked, especially in the wake of President George W. Bush. What this country does not need is another person who is more than willing to appear hick and really is less interested in the governance of the country. Benign Neglect may work when it comes to leaving other nations alone, but doing nothing often does more harm to the country being governed than it helps.

Perhaps, as Levi Johnston said, Governor Palin is just following the money. Perhaps all she wants is celebrity. In truth, Governor Palin can continue to claim all she wants that her reasons for leaving office are transparent. Unfortunately, transparent can either mean that you can easily see through them, or you cannot see them at all. What ever the reason for Governor Palin’s departure from Alaska politics, the spate of interviews following, and the continued press coverage that she herself seems desperate to have just makes a lie of her entire rationale.

Still, like the ghost of refried beans, Governor Palin will continue to haunt us for some time to come.

Pictured-
Sarah Palin- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PalinInDover-cropped2.jpg
Fairbanks, Alaska- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fairbanks05.jpg