"Sarah And The Seventy Percent Solution!"

It's time to Break It Down!

Though not quite the Gold Mine last week was, the days ensuing since last Wednesday have been filled with many topics ripe for discussion. The King of Pop’s 15 Minutes of fame have been expanded to nearly 15 days, crescendoing with yesterday’s star-studded Memorial Service in the Staple Center. Twenty thousand attended, and it is estimated more than a billion people watched, worldwide. Steve “Air” McNair’s murder and the continuing emerging details vied for major attention. President Obama participated in a Russian Summit earlier this week, will attend the G-8 Summit in Italy, beginning today, then will travel to Ghana Friday, before returning to Washington Saturday.

All that is exciting, but today’s spotlight is devoted to soon to be former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. In a move that surprised virtually everyone, even those who follow such things, Governor Palin announced Friday she is stepping down as Governor July 26th, and ceding the Governorship to the State’s Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. The move has created wide-ranging speculation about the cause of her sudden and unexpected departure, a year early.

The notions espoused for her leaving office run the gamut, and include the assertion that her decision is influenced by the substantial litigation that the she has been forced to fend off, the contention that her continued service was costly to both the State of Alaska ($2 Million), and to she and her family ($500 Thousand), citing the opportunity to greatly increase her wealth by freeing herself of albatross of the Governorship, and one of the most popular notions; she will use her resignation as a Kick-off for the 2012 Presidential Campaign.

While the Governor mentioned a number of reasons for quitting in her rambling news conference, Lieutenant Governor Parnell cited the time and expense of the ethics charges as the most compelling reason of which he was aware.

The charges have been on her mind lately. She has always reveled in the thrusting and parrying of debate rather than let attacks go. During the Vice-Presidential campaign, she ordered her staff to devote time and energy to quashing untrue or extraneous blog rumors. Over the weekend, she directed her lawyers to vigorously and preemptively block stories about a federal investigation that was not even occurring. Moreover, she has often peppered what she considers the "mainstream media elite" and "liberal blogosphere" with her own special brand of the political brush back.

In all the fallout following the announcement, there are a couple of polling numbers that serve to underscore just how much, or rather perhaps, just how little the earth moved as a result of this matter. A USA Today/Gallup Poll revealed that 7 in 10 Americans say Palin’s decision to resign had no affect on their opinion of her. The poll, taken Monday, three days after her announcement, also indicated more than 7 in 10 Republicans say they would probably vote for Palin if she decided to run for the White House in 2012.

The poll pegged the number of Independents saying they would vote for Palin at 34%, and the number of Democrats at 17%. At first, these numbers may seem like the makings of a Democratic Party desired dream state. However, the mere thought that any Republican, but especially one with the potential appeal of Governor Palin, can count nearly 1-in-5 Democrats in his or her camp more than two years before the Primary season begins, should be more than a little unsettling.

I have no idea whether any of the ethics charges that loom large over the Governor’s head will gain any traction. Regardless, in the fairly politically cynical orbit in which my head dwells, The Governor has opted to do two things right away:

1) Cash in while the iron is hot
2) Launch her Presidential Campaign sooner rather than later

While it is tempting to file item number 2 under the heading, “She Can Dream,” one only needs to look as far back as Barack Obama to see an example of a raw underdog, and unlikely winner who turned it around and shocked the world. I am certainly not predicting Mrs. Palin will do the same thing. Though I am suggesting writing her off too soon could bring about, and in fact would be a recipe for disastrous consequences. Many still contend that was a key mistake made during the heat of the Clinton Campaign in ’08. We all know who that turned out, and where the “seemingly unbeatable” front-runner is today.

Political campaigns are strange organisms. The best of them have a variety of twists and turns, often ones you would never have predicted. Election Day 2012 is more than three years away, forty months in fact. Before then, we will learn how long the Great Recession of ’08 will last; we will have a better idea about the affect of the Stimulus Bill, we will see how General Motors and Chrysler fare in their next life, we will know whether we were able to decamp in Iraq, and we will know whether we can develop a successful Afghanistan Strategy.

All those matters may have more of an impact on the outcome of Campaign 2012, than whether Sarah Palin launches now or later. Be that as it may, you have now been made aware of “Sarah and the Seventy Percent Solution!” Knowledge is power; the rest is up to you.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACKm0AwStA8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/03/palin-step-down-alaska-governor/

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/07/if_ethics_charge_costs_caused.html

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20090703_palin_steps_down_as_alaska_governor/

http://www.newser.com/story/63497/palin-will-step-down.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090704/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resigning

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301738.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31726640/ns/politics-more_politics/

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8009188&page=1

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5132137n