Hunting donkeys

Sarah Palin added to the weekend fireworks by announcing on July 3 that she'd be resigning as Alaska governor effective in about three weeks.

I know what you're thinking: "South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is busted with an Argentinean mistress, and Sarah Palin resigns?" Those looking to Palin's resignation as a signal of some sort of as yet to be exposed "wrongdoing" on her part don't know politics. In politics, the guilty are the ones who stick around – that's why we're in so much trouble.

After Palin's announcement on Friday, the rumor mill began buzzing even louder than usual. Theories ranging from claims that Palin is about to be charged with embezzlement, to she's pregnant again, to she's running for president, to my own theory that Palin quit to become the host of her own game show called "You Bet'cha Life!"

There were also the expected tasteless jokes about her kids under the guise of "satire." One of these sensitive, caring liberals wrote that Palin is "the first politician to actually try to increase the population of retarded people." And all along I thought that was ACORN's job.

Predictably, those who seem to have devoted their lives to being Sarah Palin's sworn enemies were, in exceedingly generous gestures, the first out of the gate to offer Palin post-resignation career advice.

Among all the reactions to Palin's resignation, none was more stark-raving contradictory than the Democratic National Committee's response:

DNC Spokesman Brad Woodhouse:

"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down. Either way – her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today."

Those who dismissed Palin as the governor of a meaningless, backward state are now the first out of the gate to accuse her of abandoning her absolutely vital duties to that important state? Funny.

I don't recall anybody accusing Barack Obama of abandoning his post and the people of Illinois when he resigned his senate seat after 46 months – half of which were spent traipsing around 57 states running for president. If Palin is running for president, she's doing it the responsible way. Obama is the one who "abandoned" his constituents, not that we heard anything about that from the mainstream press Obamaphiles.

The same day Palin announced her resignation, DNC cabana boy David Gergen said this on CNN:

I think most of us long ago gave up trying to figure out what goes on in Sarah Palin's head.

Coming from a guy who can figure out what goes on in Joe Biden's head, this is a compliment of the highest order.

The truth is that nobody really knows the truth. Maybe even the Palins don't know for sure. I must confess in a fit of selfishness that I'd be disappointed to see her out of the picture in the national political scene at a time when there is a dire shortage of conservatism in public office. When it comes to the choice of GOP presidential candidates of late, I've felt like an ichthyophobic at a sushi bar.

But if Sarah Palin is running for president, politically speaking, there's little to no downside to resigning now to focus on national politics. If she ran for president and kept the job as governor, she'd be accused – this time perhaps rightly so – of neglecting her post as she traveled the lower 48. By resigning, Palin is adhering to the Hippocratic oath of politics: First do yourself no harm.

In other words, denying her resume an extra year and a half as Alaska governor is not going to be a deal-breaker when it comes to whether or not Sarah Palin is the GOP's nominee in 2012. I'm not sure how effective the DNC's "She quit on Alaska, she'll quit on you" ad campaign starring Yukon Cornelius standing in front of a Juneau abortion clinic will be, but time will tell.

Rest assured, if Sarah pops up in Iowa and New Hampshire before too long, it won't be to hunt bears, but donkeys – and hopefully even a few RINOs.