Talking Points Memo

Shorter Palin: Real Winners Quit

2009-07-03T22:44:19Z

Perhaps the best part of Palin's announcement today:

Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out.

Quitters stick to it. Winners quit.

From Crazy to Shrewd In One Hour

2009-07-03T22:22:35Z

At 4:06 ET, when news first broke that Sarah Palin was resigning the governorship, Fox News got Palin's Svengali, Bill Kristol, on phone who said he was "real surprised" by the decision. "[Y]ou know when I first heard it I thought that's a little crazy, giving up the governorship for a year and a half," Kristol told viewers.

What a difference an hour makes.

At 5:06 ET, Kristol posted on the Weekly Standard website: "If Palin wants to run in 2012, why not do exactly what she announced today? It's an enormous gamble - but it could be a shrewd one."

Is it a huge gamble or a shrewd move? Kristol leaves himself a big out there.

Late Update: Fox is coming around, too. A little while ago, Stuart Varney said, "Let's get back to this resignation," before pausing to correct himself. "Not the resignation but stepping aside from the governorship."

Go Crazy, Folks

2009-07-03T22:18:06Z

We've rounded up the Top 10 Sarah Palin videos we've posted on the site since her selection as McCain's veep last year. These are the most-viewed clips of her stumbles and bumbles and of the coverage surrounding her -- in all their viral loveliness.

A Modern-Day Checkers Speech

2009-07-03T21:32:30Z

Watch Sarah Palin's resignation announcement: Part 1 and Part 2.

Presented By:

2009-07-03T21:32:30Z

Shoe Watch

2009-07-03T21:17:34Z

Any stabs at identifying the other shoe that is certain to be dropping soon?

In other news, it seems our Top Seven Sarah Palin Moments of the last year slideshow may need some revising.

Just What She Said

2009-07-03T20:58:11Z

Here's the transcript of Gov. Palin's rambling resignation statement.

Nothing Suspicious About That

2009-07-03T20:50:06Z

Andrea Mitchell says sources close to Gov. Palin say she is now "out of politics for good."

First Signs What Happened

2009-07-03T19:43:25Z

Okay, we're getting our first indication of what happened. It seems like a colossal sulk on Palin's part, or perhaps better to say an effort on her part to ingeniously combine anti-liberal media bias agitation with Christianist politics by portraying herself as having been crucified by the liberal media.

Said Palin, according to a reporter at the press conference, "You are naive if you don't see a full-court press on the national level, picking apart a good point guard."

More shortly.

3:52 PM ... So what happened exactly? As I just mentioned in our editorial chat, this clearly happened so quickly that Palin hasn't even had a chance to come up with a coherent cover story for her resignation. Some context is probably helpful here, however. Remember that based on the public record, Palin is a wildly unethical public official, guilty at a minimum of numerous instances of abusing her authority as governor. And a lot of very damaging information has come out about her in the last few days -- though mainly embarrassing information about her character rather than new evidence of bad acts. I would not be surprised if this latest round of revelations shook something else loose that we haven't heard about yet.

4:06 PM ... Wow. It just gets better and better. Apparently one of Palin's rationale's for resigning is that she would not stand by while so many taxpayer dollars were being spent investigating her. This from Politico has to be the best ...

Palin allies contend that her star power will still benefit her home state.
"She can be more of a help to Alaska from the outside now," said one Palin loyalist.

Now?

4:20 PM ... Hmmm. Even better. This is Gov. Palin's 'announcement', such as it is, on Twitter ...

We'll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election... this is in Alaska's best interest, my family's happy... it is good, stay tuned

She apparently didn't realize she was resigning yet. Stuff obviously moving pretty quickly ...

WTF?

2009-07-03T19:26:35Z

At first, the reports were contradictory. But now we've seen multiple reports that Sarah Palin plans to resign her office as governor of Alaska at some point in the very near future. Initially reports suggested only that she wouldn't run again; quickly followed by reports of an imminent resignation.

The Day in 100 Seconds: The 4th, Fantastic!

2009-07-03T19:22:44Z

Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Back to the Drawing Board

2009-07-03T18:08:23Z

In trying to gin up claims that President Obama fired an inspector general for political reasons, Republicans look to have backed the wrong horse.

Not Exactly Matewan

2009-07-03T17:39:25Z

Some sort of brouhaha at a health care roundtable organized by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) at a hospital in Omaha this morning. SEIU claims Johanns' staff called the police on the union even though the union was invited to participate. We talked to Johanns' office and they tell us nothing of the sort happened: that hospital security moved union protesters across the street, that the senator's staff had nothing to do with it, and that union representatives and other reform advocates invited by Johanns participated in the roundtable as planned.

Late Update: Worth noting that the SEIU state director, Jane Kleeb, who is complaining about what happened this morning, is married to Johann's Democratic opponent from the 2008 campaign, Scott Kleeb.

Wheeling and Dealing

2009-07-03T16:27:44Z

Does Wal-Mart's concession on health care reform give it political cover to fight harder than ever against EFCA?

Points for Self-Awareness?

2009-07-03T16:24:21Z

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "I'm not very good at twisting arms. I try to be more verbal and non-threatening."

(Thanks to TPM Reader RL for the catch.)

Certain Unalienable Rights

2009-07-03T15:42:09Z

TPM unearths important old document.