# Palin Resigns as Gov? WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 3, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843 "2009-07-03T19:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/161 "2009-07-04T03:58:01Z")
> [@Shot\_Clock](#): > > Not being a fan of Palin’s, I will say that I sincerely hope there is no major family crisis involved here, especially with one of her kids. If this is the case, and she gets the hell out of the spotlight (save for the occassional speaking engagments before groups already in agreement with her brand of bullshit, which I can live with- hey, she’s gotta eat!), I say leave her the hell alone. > > But if there is some kind of major financial or ethics scandal, you can bet your bottom dollar that cheapjack, jive-ass, hustler husband of hers has something to do with it. I’ve seen her parents interviewed and they are the salt of the earth. Palin may have been carried away with ambition, but once she realizes that her family is paying too dear a price, problems with her children or a disaffected husband perhaps, she’ll do the right thing and put her family first. She’s not presidential material by a long long shot, but I just love her moxie. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/162 "2009-07-04T04:02:38Z")
There’s no way the 8 year old is pregnant. That’s weak speculation with ridiculous evidence, and kind of disgusting for people to gossip about. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/163 "2009-07-04T04:02:48Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > problems with her children or a disaffected husband perhaps From what I’ve read though, Todd was pretty into her political career and involved himself in it heavily. I’ve seen no indication that he was frustrated with the family’s exposure, have you? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/164 "2009-07-04T04:03:42Z")
One possibility is that Palin has decided to go for a 2012 Presidential run and wants to start some serious fund raising. If she’s a Governor in office there must be legal watchdogging on her finances. Being a private citizen frees her from official scrutiny. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/165 "2009-07-04T04:06:11Z")
Yeah, but by resigning unprompted _in the middle of her term_? This is, as far as I know, completely unprecedented in politics. She’s got tremendous name recognition and a sort of fundraising/publicity apparatus in place already. Why do anything to provoke commentators to write your political eulogy? This is either crazy like a fox or just crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/166 "2009-07-04T04:15:16Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > If he’s a conservative because republicans voted for him, then how can you compare the relative conservativeness of different presidents? I didn’t say he was a conservative because Republicans voted for him, I said Bush was conservative because conservatives voted for, worked to elect, and lauded him effusively. Conservative!=Republican, though that’s becoming less true every day. In Eisenhower’s day, there was a strong conservative wing of the Republican Party, but he wasn’t really their candidate. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/167 "2009-07-04T04:16:38Z")
She’s been busted for something… If it’s sex, my guess would be it was with an underage teen, thus a criminal matter. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/168 "2009-07-04T04:22:11Z")
There was a [rumor](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/mccain-camp-battles-natio_n_123696.html) about Palin having an affair with an associate of Todd’s. It was in the Enquirer of course, but on the other hand, the Enquirer broke the Edwards affair story wide open. Still though, I think it’s unlikely. I vote corruption scandal. Maybe we should start a betting pool. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/169 "2009-07-04T04:24:36Z")
Speaking from the perspective of the right, I’m delighted. I’ve defended her in the past but always with a sour taste in my mouth. The sooner she leaves the public spotlight the better it will be for the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/170 "2009-07-04T04:29:37Z")
How does her dropping out of the governorship change any pending investigations? Will the authorities just drop it? Can she get out of jail time? I think that given the amount of time she dedicated her speech to ranting about the opposition wasting millions of taxpayer dollars investigating her, she’s busted. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/171 "2009-07-04T04:40:26Z")
If the charges against her would result in jail time for anyone else, they’re not going to stop once she resigns. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/172 "2009-07-04T04:46:57Z")
Yeah, but they become less interesting if she’s not a sitting governor. At least by her lights. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/173 "2009-07-04T04:47:58Z")
I had no plans this holiday weekend. How delightful to have this juicy tidbit for entertainment! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/174 "2009-07-04T04:57:09Z")
She was born in 2001. It’s possible to get pregnant that early, but I’m guessing highly unlikely. More likely she is overweight (or even that she has a tumor). ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/175 "2009-07-04T04:58:03Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > That’s a good point, although that’s one motivation. Could be whomever has the goods just wants her to vanish from politics quietly and without a ton of embarrassment. I honestly don’t know (or does anyone at this point really) and was more or less asserting that this isn’t because she got a sweet offer from FoxNews or that there’s a sex scandal. > > I’ll bet there are a lot of GOP’ers out there who would be scared to death if she won the nomination in 2012 and actually represented their party. And I’ll bet there are lots liberals who wouldn’t want to chance Obama having to go against her. I think she wears a big target on her back as it became pretty apparent during the campaign that she was more polarizing than McCain and obviously very ambitious. I agree that her blackmailer (if blackmail is indeed the reason she resigned) wouldn’t necessarily be someone gunning for a huge payout or a lucrative job. My guess is she finally pissed off the wrong people. She did have a well-publicized history of playing hardball with big oil. I certainly wouldn’t put it past Exxon or any other major oil company to dig up dirt on a hostile politician. And I’m sure there are many other special interest groups who, for whatever reason, just wanted to get her out of the way. And as you mentioned, there’s also the possibility of a rival wanting her to bow out. Politics, as I’ve seen first-hand, is not a game for the weak of heart, or stomach. I’m sure Alaskan politics, like politics everywhere, has it’s unsavory aspects. But she clearly had no idea how dirty things could get on a national level, as evidenced by how she lashed out at every percieved slight. Either way, I can’t imagine there were too many people in the state government willing to stand up for her. From what I understand she’s made powerful enemies on both sides of the aisle in the legislature. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/176 "2009-07-04T04:58:20Z")
I’m a bit leery of scandals that are “about to” surface. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/177 "2009-07-04T05:05:50Z")
So is she. And before I watched her speech, I never realized I could have a fondness for seagulls. They certainly know how to squawk “Bullshit! Bullshit!”, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/178 "2009-07-04T05:08:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So is she. > > And before I watched her speech, I never realized I could have a fondness for seagulls. They certainly know how to squawk “Bullshit! Bullshit!”, don’t they? The geese flapping in the water behind her, toward the beginning of her speech, were eerily similar to the turkeys’ death-throes. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/179 "2009-07-04T05:14:52Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > I didn’t say he was a conservative because Republicans voted for him, I said Bush was conservative because conservatives voted for, worked to elect, and lauded him effusively. And the people that voted for him are considered conservatives because? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843/180 "2009-07-04T05:19:18Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > And the people that voted for him are considered conservatives because? Because those are the people who have defined “conservative” for the last thirty years and probably will for the next twenty? I suspect that St. Ronnie wouldn’t be considered “conservative” were he viewed by the Righties as a failure. -Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palin-resigns-as-gov-wtf/501843.md?page=10)