LECHTANSKI.NET

So, this has been bugging me since I read about it on Friday. I logged onto the soon-to-be former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page so I could read her statement criticizing everybody who was being critical of her impending resignation. But I got stuck reading to Wall Posts from her supporters.

Here are a few things that bother me about her decision and her supporters’ defense of it:

She says once she decided to not run for re-election, her role as a lame duck was pointless. My thought: bullshit. By not running for office again she would get the opportunity to put politics aside and work with whomever she wants to get things accomplished and display her “leadership” skills without worrying about campaigning, raising money or making interest groups happy. It’s an opportunity to do what you think is right, without the money, politics and influence that leads to compromise and homogenization.

President Obama resigned his office as Senator, which makes Palin’s resignation OK. Obama resigned his office because he was elected to a higher office. That’s pretty much how the system works! This would have been demonstrated by McCain had he won. Additionally this has happened with Bush II, Clinton, Ford, Johnson, etc. Voters tend to elect people that have proved electable.

Quitting now will give her the ability to accomplish more than if she was in office. Let’s use John Edwards to discuss this one. Edwards didn’t run for a second term in the Senate after the losing VP candidate with Kerry (but he did finish his term, as he committed to his constituents). His Titanic-sized ego wouldn’t let him run a losing campaign for Senator. He started the Poverty Center and worked on his Presidential campaign for 2 years. Look how that worked out. He was pretty much always running for 3rd place. And this was all before the love child/affair brouhaha.

Leaving office in Alaska will give her a bigger national pulpit. Again, ask John Edwards about that one. It gives her a bigger pulpit with the people that care about her already, conservative Republicans. She will have plenty of opportunities to preach to the choir (please forgive the metaphor). But once she leaves office, the newsworthiness of what she says on a random Tuesday will be significantly less.

Palin is getting judged so critically because she is a conservative family woman. Hillary got dragged over the rocks, through the mud and into the fire. Edwards got, rightfully, filleted. McCain got treated pretty roughly as a grump. Obama is still surrounded by crazy conspiracies. Media scrutiny and criticism is not exclusive to Party or gender. But it is an easy scapegoat. In fact given the pass the Bush Administration was given in the early aughts, I’m not sure the media is scrutinizing enough, holding our leaders accountable.

McCain decided to not win the campaign because he realized how bad the economy was, and whoever won would be limited to one term, sullied with the Bush recession. Huh? Someone ask Senator McCain about that one.

She quit because she foresees a higher calling. I hope that higher calling is her family or her religion. If she pursues any higher office, she better not expect her treatment to be any different.