Sarah Palin: 'Getting out of the way' or running away?

Sarah Palin announces her resignation/AP Photo

You could practically hear the collective jaws dropping all over the US today as Sarah Palin announced that she would resign as Governor of Alaska at the end of this month, halfway through her term in office. Now everyone is asking, "Why"?

During an odd, rambling speech, Palin said she was leaving office but didn't explain why, other than offering a rather flimsy explanation that she wasn't planning on running for reelection and didn't want to somehow take advantage of Alaska's people by finishing out her term:

"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," Palin said.

Using a basketball analogy, Palin said, "a good point guard knows when to get out of the way, " auspiciously referring to the recent media attention on her and her family because of an ethics probe, or perhaps referring more broadly to her position within the Republican party.

David Gergen, a political pundit for CNN, said he believed Palin's motivations were money and her ambition to run for president in 2012. Gergen pointed out that Palin has a book coming out, and it made sense to him that she would want to hit the lecture circuit, make several million dollars, and build her popularity for a presidential run.

However, political analyst Larry Sabato called Palin's announcement "absolutely bizarre" and said "I think it eliminates her from serious consideration for the presidency in 2012."

Everyone seems to agree that there is some piece missing in Palin's story.

Blogger Susie Bright noticed a cryptic message on Alaska Report last week about a pending bombshell involving an investigation into Palin's finances. Today, the website says, "Big dirty scandal about to hit the Palin universe, as evidenced by Palin's announcement today that she's stepping down." Bright has also been following the efforts of local Alaska blogger Linda Kellen-Biegel's Freedom of Information Act request for emails between the Palin administration and local talk show host and Palin family friend Eddie Burke. Apparently, Palin's office put up one obstacle after another to prevent Kellen-Biegel from obtaining the emails, including charging her nearly $6000.00 for them. The emails were due to be released in a few days.

Huffington Post blogger Shannyn Moore said rumors of an "iceberg scandal" have been circulating, and noted that resignation is certainly out of character for Sarah Palin:

Senator Mark Begich had a meeting with Sarah Palin two days ago with no mention of her leaving office. Palin's press secretary, David Murrow had posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, "David Murrow is considering life's ironies." He was hired less than a month ago. Yesterday he wrote, "There's gonna be some fireworks this weekend!"

Palin's father, Chuck Heath, told Fox News that he thought her resignation was due to the negativity from the media. According to Heath, the governor was unable to be effective while she was constantly having to defend herself against ethics complaints and the media.

However, Linda Kellen Biegel speculated that the real reason Palin was resigning was because of something looming over the horizon -- the next poll of Alaskans. "That would have been the kiss of death for higher office," she wrote.