Sarah Palin Is Not Running For President

Here is her statement:

October 5, 2011

Wasilla, Alaska
After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the “fundamental transformation” of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!

God bless America.


– Sarah Palin

She will be on Greta VanSusteren later to explain more, but I believe that the vitriol which would have been lobbied against her from the GOP became apparent today, and Palin took the self-sacrificing route of withdrawing from the presidential contest in order to protect her family. She certainly had the fire in the belly and the path to win. She made clear that family was a priority over elected office, even with the most powerful position in the world within her reach, and I admire her restraint.

Of course, this will no doubt set off a firestorm of commentary, radically transforming the race for the GOP nomination. As for my part, I am disappointed and disheartened that she is not running, as should be anybody who values conservatism. Although Erick Erickson was correct that she was not running, his behavior toward Palin has been disgraceful and not befitting of someone who claims to champion conservatives throughout this whole episode. I will not consider him a true conservative or someone worthy of listenening to ever again.

While the tendency of some may be to mock those who were supporting Palin for the presidency, the other campaigns will no doubt do their best to tamp down such criticism and suck up to Palin supporters now that she is out. We will not be fooled. We know the low regard you have for her, because she refuses to be bought or kiss up to the traditional GOP power brokers. She will always be a champion of the people over the entrenched, moneyed interests. I urge my fellow Palinistas, as did the Huckabites when Huckabee announced he was not running, to not quickly or easily settle for another candidate based on perceived affinity to Palin or pleasant sounding rhetoric. I will not be used as a pawn in a chess match. I will not hand over my support easily just to "stop the other guy" whoever that may be. I will think long and hard about whom to support in the GOP primary, or even whether any of them are deserving of my support. I will not support Obama. But that does not mean the GOP candidate automatically has my support. We learned too much from McCain the last time, and in particular from the despicable way Palin was thrown under the bus after he was done using her to burnish his image and get re-elected as a senator. I will remain open to other candidates jumping in the race or even a third party candidate. As statisticians like Nate Silver have noted, such a challenge is almost guaranteed in such a highly polarized election cycle. Threats that I am splitting the vote will not work on me. If the GOP candidate is not worthy of my support, they will not get it, period.

Sarah Palin did promise that this would be an uncovential cycle, and I could easily see a path to the presidency for her on a third party ticket. The hatred that was beginning to be spewed her way after she became the last option besides Christie made it clear that the establishment GOP would have played just as dirty as the Dems did in 2008 in order to prevent her from winning the nomination. She certainly would have a constituency outside the traditional GOP. However, I am under no illusions and I am not holding my breath.

God have mercy on America, because we may be in for a very long, dark period of history.