Sarah Palin recently announced that she would be stepping down as Governor of Alaska and would not seek reelection. Currently she has a year and half left in her term. Once a candidate for Vice President under John McCain, Palin has become a symbol for the Republican Party, and many view her as a contender for the Presidency in 2012. Palin cited a partisan state Senate, ongoing frivolous ethic litigation, wasteful spending of state dollars as the reasons for her early departure from the governorship. Regardless of her reasons, valid or not, she has seriously hurt any future political career she might have.

If Palin is planning any future runs for public office, this resignation will be a perpetual opportunity her opponent can exploit. She has presented the public with an example of herself that would not stay the course, navigate through troubled waters, and will give up. The going got tough and Palin left. It would be better for the Republican Party of Palin ended her political career with this resignation and stayed out off the political stage. As somebody who voted for the McCain-Palin ticket in November, I believe she would not win the Republican primaries for the 2012 election even if she did complete her tenure as Alaskan Governor.

The main two reasons Palin gave for her departure was; due to the pressures of partisan litigation attempts, and unfavorable environment in the Alaskan state Senate that would cause problems with passing the best bills for Alaska. Anybody in a position of power will not always have the best or even friendly circumstances to go about their business. Though Palin enjoyed large approval ratings and a friendly Senate before her run as Vice President, she failed to come to terms with the change of environment after the November elections. The national mud slinging left the Governor with a tainted image and opportunities for her opponents to exploit. She just was not up to the task of dealing with a tough environment that would require hard work to get bills passed. It is necessary for a good public servant to have the strength and endurance to weather a tough political environment; especially one running to be Vice President. Partisan litigation, criticism, and annoyance are part of the political game. Anybody who holds public office needs to be aware it. Politicians on both sides of the aisle face the same scrutiny, sometimes it is unwarranted, and other times it is.
Governor Palin will be stepping down in the coming weeks, and will not seek reelection at the end 2010. It would be to her benefit and to the GOP that she does not seek a run for the presidency in 2012. Though her reasons for stepping down might be fictitious, the damage done to her political career is not.