Palin’s Resignation

Allahpundit has this to say regarding Sarah Palin’s resignation:

Placing your ambition over your commitment to the state looks shady, especially for someone who won’t have a single full term as governor under her belt for the primaries.

I don’t think that Allahpundit and I would agree on much, but we agree on this.  Finishing the term that you start if at all possible is a civic virtue common to people of all political persuasions.  In announcing her decision, she cited the attacks that she and her family have suffered.  I can sympathize with this, but I also think that is a part of political life.  Yes, even the stuff that crosses a line.  Barack Obama had to deal with being labeled a Muslim terrorist and seeing his wife called an Un-American Black supremacist.  We all want these things to stop, on both sides, but the sad fact is that they won’t, because there are always radical factions out there waiting to pounce.  So, I think that she should have gotten through this term and then not run for reelection, if that is her choice.

There has also been a lot of chatter over what the move means for her political future.  Democrats, of course, have almost universally said that her career is over.  Among conservatives, Allahpundit agrees, as does Erick Erickson at RedState:

Sarah Palin will not be President in 2012. She will not run for President. She will not run for any elected office ever again.

I don’t know if Palin will ever run for office again, but I have to agree that she would have difficulty winning.  You don’t need much time in elected office to become President, as Barack Obama demonstrates, but I think resigning violates that universal civic virtue that I mentioned earlier.  It says either “preparing for my future political career was more important than finishing what I started”, or “the attacks got too tough, so I quit”.  It will be tough to get past voters who have that impression.  Honestly, she might have better luck following Mike Huckabee and becoming a member of the punditry.