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Advisers weigh in on Palin

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The Washington Post

Published: July 5, 2009

Why did Sarah Palin step down?

Some of the people closest to the Alaska governor say she wanted to regain control of a political script that slipped out of her hands the moment she burst onto the national stage. She also wanted to shield herself and her family from the attacks that seem to have been aimed permanently at them in the 311 days since Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., announced her as his running mate, according to some former campaign aides and other advisers who speak regularly with Palin or her husband, Todd.

The woman who said she would never blink suddenly tired of what she deemed the "superficial, wasteful political blood sport." So she quit.

The big question looming over national politics this weekend is what her next move will be, and advisers said she is undecided about running for president in 2012, or ever. But for the first time she recently solicited money for her political action committee.

And Saturday she strongly suggested that she intends to remain a player in national politics.

"I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint," Palin wrote on her Facebook page.

What is certain, however, is that Palin has tired of being governor - of working with a legislature increasingly intent on blocking her agenda, of commuting 4 1/2 hours from Wasilla to the state Capitol in Juneau, of watching her family be tabloid fodder.

With the campaign behind her, Palin tried to build the foundation for a career independent of McCain's, and restore a reputation damaged by her own missteps and when McCain aides criticized her.

Soon critics blamed her for focusing too much on her national reputation.

About 15 ethics complaints were filed against her or her office, costing the state nearly $300,000 and her family about $500,000 in legal fees. Some allies in Juneau turned against her.

Drama has followed nearly all of Palin's moves. Her teenage daughter, Bristol, and Bristol's ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston, took their romantic squabbles to television talk shows and feuded over abstinence and the care of their infant son.

Another reason Palin decided to leave office is her income potential, advisers said. One adviser said she could net at least $60,000 a speech.

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