Quite a bit of speculation out there as to why, but Sarah Palin has announced she is resigning her governorship within the next few weeks.
Speculation has swirled for weeks, perhaps months that Palin would not seek re-election in 2010 as she pursues a political career on the national stage. The former vice presidential candidate has long been rumored to be considering a run at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
Palin did not address those rumors at the press conference at her Wasilla home, during which she did not take questions from reporters.
She implied that her real decision was not to seek re-election, and that the resignation was a natural step after that in order to avoid a lame-duck final 18 months of her term.
"With this announcement that I'm not seeking re-election, I've determined it's best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor (Sean) Parnell," Palin said. "I'm determined to take the right path for Alaska, even though it is unconventional and is not so comfortable.
"And I am willing to do this so this administration, with its positive agenda and its accomplishments and its successful road to an incredible future for Alaska, so that it can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success."
Palin said that as she percolated over her decision whether to seek re-election, she thought about how her final months would play out as a lame duck.
"I thought about, well, how much fun some governors have as lame ducks," she said. "They travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas, international trade missions -- so many politicians do that.
"And then I thought that's what's wrong. My choice is to take a stand and affect change and not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time, money -- millions of your dollars -- go down the drain in this new political environment."
More at The Fix and blog buzz is off the charts, showing that Palin is still huge news.