Palin–Shining Star or Crashing Comet
Okay, this has been a hot enough news topic, especially as it relates to strategy and planning, that I must address it.
Is Sarah Palin’s resignation a bright move, or is that glow about to flame out?
Several things… the first being is that whether it is the right move is something for her and her family to decide, and it seems like they’ve delivered a verdict. I don’t think regret is in her nature, nor is she likely to have any about this decision.
From a conflict standpoint, I think it’s brilliant. She’s writing the rules of engagement by returning to live as a citizen rather than an office holder. As Governor, those rules are written for her, as a matter of law. Working within those laws is expensive for her and the state, and not her opponents.
From a strategy standpoint, it all depends on what her goals are. The chattering, chatty class of chatterers on TV, print, and radio seem to have assumed her goals, and therefore have rendered judgment in the negative as far as her aspirations are concerned. The problem is, she has yet to state her aspirations. She hasn’t hemmed herself in or painted herself into a corner, at least not yet, as much as the talking heads would like to think. That seems pretty smart, too.
At the end of the day, the people decrying the move the most are the same ones who wanted to be shed of her, and the ones advising her (and her party) the most about how to win are opponents who’d rather that she lost. She appears Hell-bent on ignoring the advice of opponents and people who have run losing campaigns, and it’s hard to fault that from a strategy standpoint.
What she does with this situation will be of her own doing, and it may lead to good things, bad things, or not make much of a difference. But she is working on her own terms, and this site, of all, would never begrudge such thinking!
Jared A. Chambers
