Governor Sarah Palin announced yesterday that she will resign as governor of Alaska at the end of this month.

Okay. Weird.

Her reasons are a little muddled, but here is what she said in her press conference:
1. “I am not wired to operate under the same old ‘politics as usual.’”
2. “I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction.” (Anchorage Daily News, 7/3/09)

She spent a lot of time enumerating her many accomplishments as governor. She spent some time answering those who criticized her during her vice presidential nominations. She spent a little time talking about her family. So I’m confused.

She has accomplished so much as governor that she needs to quit now? If you’re trying to justify a decision to step down and convince your constituents that it is “what’s best for Alaska,” shouldn’t you play down what a good job you’ve done?

I’m inclined to think this is a stunt designed to gain more attention and maintain the “maverick” label she and McCain worked so hard to attain: however, this seems like a pretty risky gamble. She and McCain also tried to garner reputations as defenders of the Constitution and representatives of “real America” (Palin, 10/16/08). Well, the constitution of Alaska sets up the governor’s job as a four-year gig. The people of Alaska hired her for a four-year job. Does that mean she would be a “lame duck” for the next year and a half? Yes. Since she decided not to run for re-election in 2010, she would have the “lame duck” label. That is the way the Alaskan constitution is set up. Palin said she rejects the “fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade” ((Anchorage Daily News, 7/3/09). Fine. Keep working to effect the change you wanted to achieve, Gov. Palin. Don’t travel. Don’t have “fun.” But don’t chuck your constitutional role out the window along with the faith of your constituents.

If I were an Alaskan who had voted for Sarah Palin, I’d be pretty ticked off now. Evidently, many Alaskan Republicans do feel this way. As I read through the many reactions to Palin’s announcement on the Anchorage Daily News site, I saw many people who felt betrayed by the woman of whom they had once been so proud. Not only did she take 3 months out of her job to run for vice president, now she can’t even be bothered to complete the term she was elected to? Taking office in December of 2006 and stepping down at the end of this month, she will have completed 32 months of her 48-month term. If you subtract the three months she spent campaigning with McCain, that’s 29 months working as governor of Alaska. In private enterprise, she could be sued for breach of contract. Is that what “mavericks” do?  Let down the people who elect them to serve?

Finally, I noticed a rather odd omission from her speech. I guess I expected her to say something about wanting to spend more time with her family. Not because she’s a woman, but because most politicians talk about their families when they announce a decision like this. Also because she was supposedly such a family-values candidate; however, she said nothing about leaving office to spend more time with her family or her children. Every time she mentioned her husband or her kids it was to use them as a supporting detail: “I choose, for my State and my family, more ‘freedom’ to progress,” “this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children.” Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Sarah Palin prides herself on being different. Perhaps that means spending more time with family is not high on her priority list.

This announcement is just another move in a long line of unusual decisions by Sarah Palin. I understand her desire to do something other than “politics as usual,” (Anchorage Daily News, 7/3/09) but often politicians do the same thing as all their predecessors because it is the right thing to do. Like serving out the term for which you were elected as defined by the constitution of your state.