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July 8, 2009

Charles Oliver The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Jul 08, 2009, 06:01 PM EDT

Several Whitfield County residents said Wednesday they still don’t understand why Sarah Palin is stepping down as governor of Alaska. They say they aren’t sure what impact the decision will have on the former Republican vice presidential nominee’s political future.

“I was surprised. It’s hard to understand why. I’m waiting to hear the rest of the story, I guess,” said Whitfield County Republican Party chairman Phil Neff.

Whitfield County Board of Commissioners chairman Mike Babb, a Republican, said the announcement caught him by surprise, too.

“This is a weird situation. I don’t know what to think about this,” he said. “I don’t think she has explained well why she is stepping down.”

But former Whitfield GOP chairman David Blackburn said he takes “her at her word.”

“She felt like she could do more good out of that office than in,” he said. “It’s insane the number of ethics complaints she had to deal with, and not a single one had been legitimated. It’s because she poses a threat to the train that seems to be chugging along towards socialism.”

Some area residents said Wednesday they hadn’t seen her announcement and weren’t clear why she stepped down.

Dalton’s Maria Pastora said she understood that Palin was upset with some of the things that have been said about her children.

“Is she getting out of politics?” she asked.

That doesn’t seem to be the case, but Palin hasn’t explicitly said what her plans are.

“It probably frees her up so that she can get more informed on issues and be more of a spokesman on those issues than she could as governor. It helps her,” said Neff. “Sarah appeals to the more conservative wing. She brought excitement to the (McCain) campaign. That’s not due to her good looks. She spoke to the concerns of the conservative Republican base, and she’s still quite popular with the base.”

If Palin decides to run for president in 2012, will having quit as governor hurt her?

“It hurts her,” said Babb. “This is going to be a hard thing to overcome. Where’s the commitment? I sort of like to see people stick to their commitments unless there are extenuating circumstances. And so far, she hasn’t explained the extenuating circumstances.”

But Neff said he doesn’t think her resignation should affect her chances of being elected president. He points to Barack Obama, who started his presidential campaign just two years into a six-year term as U.S. senator.

“Did he get criticized for being a quitter?” he asked.

In the meantime, some pundits suggest that Palin may help campaign for Republican candidates in the 2010 elections. Neff said he believes she will.

“There will be quite a few Republican candidates who would want her on the stump with them,” he said.

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