Palin Out

On Friday, July 3rd, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced that she would resign the office at the end of the month. Speculation about her motives and political future subsequently ran rampant over the weekend. Of course, much has been made about her presidential ambitions for 2012. Some say that she would like to challenge republican senator Lisa Murkowski in the 2010 primary to raise her national profile, and there is also the (cynical) rumour that she simply needs time to finish her book deal for Spring 2010 release.
All three, or none, of these may actually be the case. She conspicuously omitted the popular "spend more time with my family" line, which says that this move may indeed be more about her professional aspirations, whatever they may be. However, only the cynical idea that she quit her post as governor to make more money with a book deal has any chance of working out positively for her.
How can anyone take her seriously as a candidate now? No matter how much one agrees with her views, there is no other way to interpret her resignation other than she is abandoning her duties. How many Alaskans would have voted for her if they knew she would not complete her term? In the 2008 presidential campaign, she often came across as a wild card, and her supporters loved her for it. People want to vote for a politician who marches to their own beat, and does not toe the party line, but they need to vote for one who is steady and thoughtful, not erratic. Republicans loved Palin because she seemed like a real person, and her opponents thought that was exactly the problem. So, is this a move by a politician who can navigate the rough waters ahead, or is this a (desperate?) move by someone who has been in over her head all along? Does Sarah even know what her plan is?