"If I Die, I Die."

Palin: Politically speaking, 'If I die, I die.'
By DAN JOLING (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
July 07, 2009 9:59 AM EST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sarah Palin says she's not a quitter, she's a fighter, but adds that, politically speaking, "if I die, I die. So be it."

The Alaska governor spoke in taped interviews on ABC, NBC, Fox News Channel and CNN broadcast Tuesday morning.

She told CNN that "all options are on the table" for her future, and told Fox she doesn't know what the future holds.

But told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she recognizes she might not have political staying power after her surprise resignation Friday, which came just as she had been expected to elevate her national profile ahead of a possible 2012 GOP presidential run.

"I said before ... 'You know, politically speaking, if I die, I die. So be it,'" she said.

Speaking in fishing waders from the town of Dillingham, Palin said her administration has been paralyzed by fending off frivolous lawsuits.

"I'm not going to take the comfortable path. I'm going to take the right path for the state," she said of her resignation, which she characterized as a matter of progressing in an unconventional way.

"That caught people off guard. ... It's out of the box and unconventional. That's what we are as Alaskans and certainly how I am as a public servant."

Palin said she doesn't think she needs a title to bring about "positive change," but added that she can't see herself being totally out of public service. She criticized President Barack Obama, a possible sign she's looking toward the 2012 presidential race.

"Average, hardworking Americans need to be able to get out there, unrestrained, and fight for what is right, fight for energy independence and national security, fight for a smaller government instead of this big government overgrowth that Obama is ushering in," Palin told Fox News Channel.

The outgoing Alaska governor told the Anchorage Daily News she stepped down because ethics complaints against her and her squabble with lawmakers would have paralyzed the 18 months she had left in office.

"Especially when all these lawmakers are lining up for office," she said. "Their desire would be to clobber the administration left and right so that they can position themselves for office. I'm not going to put Alaskans through that."

She told the paper she believes her replacement, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who will take office on July 26, will diffuse the controversy that surrounds her.

"With Sean in the governor's seat, it won't be the politics of personal destruction, I don't believe," Palin said.

She added she wasn't sure what her next step would be.

"I can't predict the next fish run much less what's going to happen in a few years," she told the Daily News. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep working hard for Alaska."

Palin has spent the past four days with her family, but she returned to work as Alaska governor Tuesday in a remote fishing village 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Palin was scheduled to appear in Kotzebue to sign a bill designed to bring public safety officers to small towns. Kotzebue, a town of about 3,000 people, is 550 miles northwest of Anchorage and lies on a spit of sand at the end of a peninsula.

There has been speculation that she has some legal issue that is not yet known to the public. But her lawyer told The Associated Press on Monday that she has no legal problems whatsoever, and simply is tired of the hostile political climate, legal bills and other distractions.

"She is leaving now because I think she believes that she has become the issue, rightly or wrongly, with all these ethics complaints and with the issues involving the Legislature, the combativeness they've been demonstrating toward her since she returned from the campaign," Thomas Van Flein said.

"I think she believes it's in the best interest of the state to progress forward, for her to move on to other issues."

Palin has become a lightning rod for partisan politics in Alaska since her return from the 2008 presidential campaign after John McCain selected her as his running mate for the GOP ticket. She has racked up an estimated $500,000 in legal bills defending the flurry of ethics complaints, including one filed Monday that alleges she is violating ethics law by taking per diem payments when she stays in her Wasilla home instead of the governor's mansion in Juneau.

In addition, her relationship with Democrats in the state Senate - once among her staunchest allies - deteriorated in the last session.

At the state Capitol in Juneau, the "Time to Make a Difference" clock that counted the time left in Palin's term was taken down from the wall outside her office. And people from around the country called up her office to inquire about the situation, as did a few cruise ship tourists who made the trek to the Capitol.

The young woman at the desk outside Palin's office was busy answering phones.

"Yes, she is getting swamped with e-mails," the woman tells one caller. "Yes, they do get forwarded to the appropriate person."

"Unfortunately, we are having a back load of e-mails so it will take some to get a response," she tells another.

Where is she? Why is she stepping down? When is her last day? Why so soon?

The tour guide tried to politely answer the questions for the tourists when she could, but for the most part had no answers.

Some of the visitors left Palin messages in a guest log.

"Sarah - Please Stay!" one person wrote.

Kathy Waldo-Gilbert, a registered Democrat from Iowa who was on her honeymoon in Alaska, said she was especially disappointed because she believes that Palin's early departure from the governor's job will make it harder for other women who want to be taken seriously in high-profile positions. Waldo-Gilbert voted Republican for the first time in last year's presidential election.

"When things get hard, you stick around," she said.

Erika Fagerstrom, executive residential manager at the governor's mansion, said Palin and her family will be missed. Even though Palin lived most of the time at her home in Wasilla, she spent "quite a bit" of time at the stately columned mansion near the Capitol, she said.

"We are sad to see her go. They are a great family," she said.

Palin will be succeeded by Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who has announced he will seek to retain the office in the 2010 election.

State Rep. John Harris, a former House speaker and Republican from Valdez, announced Monday that he's preparing to file paperwork with state election officials in a bid for governor.

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http://buzznewsroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/sarah-palin.jpg

it's so weird cuz "if i die, i die" is my official motto! and my favorite Virgin Prunes album!

paraphrasing Ivan Drago. Nice.

I know. I was really disappointed this was not about Virgin Prunes. :-(

Came here to join in the Virgin Prunes lovefest

baby turns blue

http://www.lractive.com/catalog/images/neoprene_hip_waders.jpg

and nothing else?

thought this was gonna be a Rachel Zoe thread

Who did the 9/11 song with the 'yes i liiiiiiiive i did not diiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee' part. Post that video pls.

Seems like a good place to post this: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8016906&page=1

But when I asked Palin if she ever decided to pursue national office again, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, wouldn't she encounter the same political blood sport? Can such ugliness ever be avoided?

Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.

"I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.

There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.

What does Kate Snow think the White House Counsel is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JADLZlYn9Hc

department of law and protection from nastiness and meanspirited, also, too

that picture is like o_OOOOOO

do we have a thread anywhere for her resignation or is this it?

It's all been here -- US politics: Can someone summarise what's going on with the GOP? -- up to now.

most of the palin resignation talk has been on the GOP thread but I think this shd be the dedicated thread

it's very Krisnamurti, which is why its my official motto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY7MYpbC32A

http://henrykisor.blogspot.com/2009/07/advancing-in-another-direction.html

i'm not really big on christian stuff, but i've always liked "to die is gain". she should have said that too.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3111/2890431437_0552e5b5b0.jpg?v=0

i'm blown away by how in debt the palin clan is - hope she signed a BIG book deal

i predict her new fox chat show will start..............now. no...........now!

that's my prediction anyway. sign a 10 mil deal with fox and all your fans love you even more than run for prez.

the repubs love the idea of a sexy rush limbaugh. they love to pretty up there hate and sell it as cute.

palin family variety show oh please oh please

legal bills and other distractions

good luck usa

She's like m ymom-in-law who keeps quitting jobs as a social worker because 'there's paperwork.'

good luck usa

They sneeze, the rest of us catch a cold

http://thenewagenda.net/2009/07/04/not-so-fast-turkeys-were-making-a-list/

I thought that site initially was 'the new Uganda' and wondered why the fuck Ugandans wld give a crap.

It's like watching teens creating a slam book.

my puma obsession will never end

Palin should take a page from Sasha Baron Cohen: create a new persona named Thene Wagenda for her tv show and stay in character all the time.

Not so Fast List! We’re Making a Turkey….

"palin family variety show oh please oh please"

i would pay to watch this from between my fingers

"Sarah Palin Breaks Silence"

^^^if only there actually had been silence

Silence, Wind

i would pay to watch this from between my fingers

interesting euphemism for spankin' it

"palin family variety show oh please oh please"

It's the Sarah Palin Hour! With Wayne Brady, Jon Voight, Martha Stewart, The Wasilla High School Marching Band, aaaaaaaand The Palin Family!!!! (*heartfelt moments include Todd and Sarah holding Trig as Toby Keith serenades them*)

"Bristol" not actually Bristol

She shld be played by the toaster strudel heiress in Mean Girls.

al shipley, commodian (i mean, comedian)

The fact that I am sexually attracted to this woman is a cruel joke of evolution.

that's another thing i don't get, frankly.

you ARE?!? really?

evolution? (xp: damn)

Evolution has nothing to do with this!

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002YCUSE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Don't tell me Palin was one of those early 80s braless hippie goth chicks

Sorry for the mental image, everyone and Hurting 2.

WASHINGTON — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's not only staying involved in national politics, but she plans to jump back into the national scrum when she leaves office at the end of the month.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee said she plans to write a book, campaign for political candidates from coast to coast — even Democrats who share her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence — and build a right-of-center coalition.

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said during an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times.

Palin shocked critics and allies alike when she announced on July 3 that she would leave the governor's office while in the middle of her first term. The governor chose not to seek re-election and suggested it was unfair to hold onto the office as a lame duck. Instead, she will step down July 26 and pursue a national profile. She has not said whether she is building toward a presidential campaign for 2012.

Republican Women Federated of Simi Valley announced Palin was scheduled to speak to the group's private gala on Aug. 8 at the Ronal Reagan Presidential Library in California. The event — reporters will not be allowed to attend — will take place in an airplane hangar that houses a retired presidential aircraft Air Force One and will stir more questions about he curious resignation.

Palin defended the decision because "pragmatically, Alaska would be better off" if her state weren't spending time on ethical complaints against her. She also said the plan to resign had been in the works for months.

Her 2008 running mate disputed suggestions the telegenic and plainspoken soon-to-be-former-official was a quitter.

"Oh, I don't think she quit," said Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 who plucked Palin out of near-obscurity and made her a household name. "I think she changed her priorities."

For now, though, Palin isn't detailing those priorities.

"I'm not ruling out anything. It is the way I have lived my life from the youngest age," she said in the Washington Times interview. "Let me peek out there and see if there's an open door somewhere. And if there's even a little crack of light, I'll hope to plow through it."

The self-described hockey mom plans to write a memoir but declined to discuss any potential deal for her to become a television commentator.

"I can't talk about any of those things while I'm still governor," she said.

Yet she's already reminding audiences of her bipartisan and family-oriented appeal.

"People are so tired of the partisan stuff even my own son is not a Republican," Palin said.

Like his father, 20-year-old Track Palin is registered as "nonpartisan" in Alaska, she said.

McCain said he believes Palin will play a major role in politics, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that "she has the ability to ignite our party and to galvanize us and get us going again and give us a strong positive message."

That said, McCain declined to endorse a Palin for President campaign.

"We've got a lot of good, strong, young, attractive, articulate spokespersons for our party and our principles," McCain said, citing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

"Oh, I don't think she quit," said Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 who plucked Palin out of near-obscurity and made her a household name. "I think she changed her priorities."

Good job there.

"Alaska would be better off"

Can't disagree with that one.

using "bipartisan" to encompass the great range of downhome republicans and alaskan secessionists is pretty gross

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/us/politics/13palin.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp
juicy stuff:

When a local Democratic blogger accused her of becoming a “walking billboard” by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the logo of Arctic Cat, her husband’s team sponsor at the Iron Dog snowmobile race, she issued a news release titled “Governor Comments on Latest Bogus Ethics Complaint.” “Yes, I wore Arctic Cat snow gear at an outdoor event, because it was cold outside,” her statement read. A follow-up release was triumphantly titled “Ethics Complaint on Governor’s Apparel Dismissed.”

At the governor’s Anchorage office, staff members are struggling to roll with Ms. Palin’s surprise announcement. Last week, a clock on the wall continued its countdown. Under a “Time to Make a Difference” placard, the clock ticks away the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the scheduled end to Ms. Palin’s term. As of Friday, it had 513 days left. “I don’t know how to reset the darn thing,” David Murrow, a spokesman for the governor, said earlier in the week.

"We're not breaking up. I'm just changing out priorities."

MY priorities, oops.

When a local Democratic blogger accused her of becoming a “walking billboard” by wearing a jacket emblazoned with the logo of Arctic Cat, her husband’s team sponsor at the Iron Dog snowmobile race, she issued a news release titled “Governor Comments on Latest Bogus Ethics Complaint.” “Yes, I wore Arctic Cat snow gear at an outdoor event, because it was cold outside,” her statement read. A follow-up release was triumphantly titled “Ethics Complaint on Governor’s Apparel Dismissed.”

palin blogodeficiency virus