Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Resigns — But Why?

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin surprised the nation today by announcing she is resigning from office at the end of the month, leaving the job with a year yet to go. She did not explain why she plans to step down — not even offering a token excuse, like “I need to spend more time with my family.”

Of course, this raises speculation that she will dive headlong into a run for the White House in 2012.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate hastily called a news conference Friday morning at her home in suburban Wasilla, giving such short notice that few reporters actually made it to the press conference. State troopers blocked late-arriving media outside her home, and her spokesman, Dave Murrow, finally emerged to confirm that Palin will step down July 26. He refused to give details about the governor’s future plans and said that Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will take over the governor’s post at the end of the month.

“Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose,” Palin said in a statement released by her office.

Okay … huh?

Palin said she planned to make a “positive change outside government,” without elaborating. She also expressed frustration with her current role.

“I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor,” Palin said.

It’s no secret that Palin is being touted as a presidential candidate in 2012. That seems to be even more apparent since so many potential frontrunners in the Republican Party are crashing and burning of late. Extramarital affairs admitted by Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford have cut down on the possibilities, and for all her faults, Palin still has many admirers.

The folksy Palin, whose life one writer described as “an unholy amalgam between ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Northern Exposure,’ ” has a long way to go before a presidential run. Not least of which is her thin skin when it comes to media jibes.

She had a public spat with “Late Show” host David Letterman over a joke he made about one of her daughters being “knocked up” by New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and has gotten ticked off over other criticism of her family members, including unwed mother Bristol and husband Todd.

And she has had her own problems since being named as John McCain’s running mate last year. Ethics complaints against Palin and top members of her administration have cost the state personnel board nearly $300,000 over the past year, almost two-thirds of which appear to be from the Troopergate investigation of the governor.

All I can say is that we haven’t heard the last of Sarah Palin.

She’s already promised more details on Twitter: “We’ll soon attach info on decision to not seek re-election … this is in Alaska‘s best interest, my family’s happy … it is good. Stay tuned”