Former Republican vice-presidential candidate leaves no hints to next steps as she receives rock star farewell
Sarah Palin, dishes out a salmon burger as her daughter Piper watches during the governor's picnic in Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday Photograph: Al Grillo/AP
Sarah Palin begins the next stage of her unpredictable political life today having bowed out of her post of governor of Alaska 16 months before the term ends.
Speaking at her official resignation at a governor's picnic in Fairbanks, Palin warned against big government, praised Alaska's beauty and paid tribute to US troops, but she gave few clues about her long-term political plans.
"With this decision, now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right, and for truth. And I have never felt that you need a title to do that," Palin said to raucous applause.
Palin's departure relieves her of the bureaucratic burdens that had started to weigh her down in recent months. Supporters hope she will use her new freedom to pursue a national profile that will lead to a run on the White House in 2012.
But without the governor's title, Palin is also left without a formal political power base from which to kickstart anycampaign. She carries with her debts, continuing ethics battles related to her term in office, and the new label of "quitter".
Exactly what she will do with her ample spare time remains a big question. Her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, told Associated Press: "I cannot express enough there is no plan after 26 July." The only known date in her diary is 8 August, when she will speak at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California.
Pundits are equally divided between those who are convinced she is finished, and those who think the Palin spectacle has just begun. Part of the reason for the polarised response is that Palin is a polarising politician, and part because she herself offers so little in the way of explanation.
Her most effusive comments these days are via Twitter. Recently she posted an overtly political tweet: "Ain't gonna shut my mouth/I know there's got to be a few hundred million more like me/just trying to keep it free".
Palin underlined her enduring popularity in her home state over the weekend. Thousands turned out for a farewell picnic in Anchorage on Saturday, where the Anchorage Daily News noted she received a "rock star treatment".
But on the wider political stage there are signs of slippage. A Washington Post-ABC poll found she was viewed unfavourably by 53% of voters, with only 40% recording a favourable rating.
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