One more shocker from Sarah Palin

Perhaps people on the inside could have predicted Gov. Palin’s decision to leave the state’s highest post, but for the rest of us in the reddest of the red states, it came out of the blue.

It’s contrary to what we’ve seen of her, right or wrong. She exhibited a feistiness that seemed natural. Her professed willingness to stand up for what she believes, even if it wasn’t always popular, made us believe she would have to be voted out office before she would throw in the towel.

Certainly, she has been beaten and harassed and mocked to the point most us would say to hell with it too.

Palin often mentioned the abundance of misinformation doled out by the national media and their reluctance to set the record straight when given facts. Todd Purdum’s recent Vanity Fair article proves this to be true.

In Purdum’s article, he writes: “By all accounts, Palin was either unwilling, or simply unable, to prepare. In the run-up to the Couric interview, Palin had become preoccupied with a far more parochial concern: answering a humdrum written questionnaire from her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman. McCain aides saw it as easy stuff, the usual boilerplate, the work of 20 minutes or so, but Palin worried intently.”

We want to set the record straight on this. The questionnaire Purdum references in his article was e-mailed to Palin late evening Sept. 27, 2008, a full three days after the Couric interview. Palin returned the e-mail on the 29th and the questions with her responses were published in this newspaper on the 30th.

Some say she brought a lot of it on herself.

After the failed vice-presidential run, she chose to remain in the national spotlight by attending rallies, doing magazine interviews, allowing her daughter to go on television shows.

Many people thought, and still think, she was wrangling for higher office. And maybe she is, because there was nothing in her speech Friday that indicated she wouldn’t run again, for something. She said she thought the national spotlight was keeping her from being effective and in essence hurting Alaska.

Many Alaskans would agree with that sentiment.

But there’s no denying she has done a lot of good for the state. If a gas line is built, Palin can be thanked for keeping it on the radar. Her battle within her own party to reform the way it does business is notable. And for better or worse, Alaska is now on the map, albeit still in the lower left corner.

Given the attributes noted above, one might suspect there might more of this story to come. It just doesn’t seem in character for a fighter like her to make a decision like this because of some bantering by East Coast typists in Vanity Fair or lame joke attempts by David Letterman.

State Rep. Mark Neuman, who represents the Valley, said if Sarah Palin is leaving for the sake of her family, “that’s just so honorable.”

He couldn’t be more right.

If she is indeed thinking of another office, she’ll have a lot of hearts to mend by not finishing the job she had.

Whatever the reason, and we hope to hear more definite explanations, we wish her the best of luck and thank her for her service.