Sarah Palin: Now I am free
Sarah Palin resignation speech: Now I will be able to fight even harder for you, what's right and for truth
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Monday, 27, Jul 2009 02:23
Sarah Palin has said she felt the governorship of Alaska was holding her back from 'doing what's right' after handing over power 18 months early.
The former Republican vice presidential nominee formally stepped down yesterday, three weeks after announcing she was quitting amid a slew of ethical probes, legal bills and faltering popularity.
But the 45-year-old mother-of-five told a mostly-supportive crowd in Fairbanks yesterday that she felt constrained by the death throes of her governorship.
"Now people who know me, they know how much I love this state," she said. "I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics-as-usual, lame-duck session in one's last year in office.
"With this decision, now I will be able to fight even harder for you, what's right and for truth - and I have never felt that you need a title to do that."
Mrs Palin's decision to leave frontline Alaskan politics had raised expectations of a bid for her party's presidential nomination in 2012.
But in a speech where she focused on her achievements in office, she offered few hints on what she would do next.
But Mrs Palin did have parting words for the American press, who she accused of dishonouring the deaths of soldiers in Iraq by "making things up".
In a reference to what she saw as unfair treatment of her young family, she added: "Our new governor [Sean Parnell] has a very nice family too, so leave his kids alone."