While the Defense Department eyes North Korea, nearby in Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has announced that she will be resigning this month and will not be seeking another term as governor. People are speculating that she is doing this in order to run for President in 2012. My take on this is pretty straightforward: I don’t like it. One reason I opposed Obama was his utter lack of experience, something that the nation is now witnessing as he fumbles from not meddling in despotic Iran to meddling in democratic Honduras. Not completing a single term as Governor reminds me of Obama not completing one term as Senator. To be clear though, I believe that Sarah Palin’s instincts reflect American values more so than Obama’s. Also, if Palin decides to run for president without even completing one term as the chief executive of her state, then her opponents will charge that she is simply a political animal willing to leave things undone for her own personal gain. Personally, I think that she should finish out her term and then not run for re-election, so she can point to a completed term as governor as evidence of her leadership. The question that the media will ask is: what kind of leader leaves before her term is up? Hopefully, Palin will be able to answer questions raised by her early retirement.

Though I disagree with her move, I understand her decision to leave early since she seems to do better on the national stage that in her own state. Given the relentless attacks she endured from the media which engaged in “gotcha” questioning while giving Obama a pass on nearly everything, she definitely has the stones to deal with an anti-Palin mainstream media. Now she just needs to clarify what she has in mind for America.

One thing is a fact though, if HALF of a term as senator qualifies someone for the presidency, then Palin’s near-full term as governor makes her a shoo-in.

-AG