Politico Reax on Palin Resignation

From Politico's Playbook:

PUNDIT PREP - ALL EXCLUSIVE TO PLAYBOOK:

1) Former Palin aide and White House official JASON RECHER e-mails from his early 30th birthday celebration in Greenwich, Conn.: 'Today's network coverage and punditry increased her appeal as a leader, for myself and so many Americans. Sarah Palin blazes her own trail and follows her own lead -- so refreshing in today's environment. She didn't poll a focus group for her decision, she polled her family. This decision will break the mold of recent scandal-ridden resignations.'

2) PALIN PLANS, from very close friends: Plans to remain extremely visible and will give serious consideration to running for president in 2012, but has made no decision. she'll be very busy as a mother of five, which friends say is her top priority. She plans paid speeches, and will spend time writing her book, which is due this fall, then promote it heavily when it comes out in spring 2010. She's the Republican Party's biggest draw for fund-raisers and conservative events (along with Cheney and Gingrich), and she plans to spend a lot of time traveling in 'the lower 48' states, as Alaskans call the continental U.S. The governor also plans to make free GOP appearances, collecting political IOUs for herself as she raises money for the party, for candidates and for issues.

3) PALIN MINDMELD, from people who are in the room: No criminal case. Recent publicity irrelevant. No bombshell brewing. It doesn't have anything to do with the feds and the Wasilla hockey sports arena. Palin had been considering for months whether to run for reelection and had concluded long ago that in order to be fair to other candidates, she needed to decide by this summer. The idea of resigning outright only came up in the last few weeks, the friends said. She believes she would win if she ran again. Palin brushes off hostile news coverage, because she thinks many reporters are idiots. But she feels that the ethics complaints in Alaska -- accompanied by attacks in the legislature, and the relentless pounding she was taking at home -- were taking a toll on her family and her state. So in her mind, the decision was selfless.

We kept getting e-mails about this, so we asked and: SHE WON'T SEEK or ACCEPT RNC CHAIR.

SHE'LL BE OFFERED CABLE NEWS COMMENTARY CONTRACTS. Don't know if will take.

4) NUMEROUS TOP D.C. REPUBLICANS CALL HER 'TOAST' FOR HER A PERFORMANCE THEY CALL 'BEWILDERING ... RAMBLING ... INEXPLICABLE' - A key Republican congressional official e-mails: 'She has never been able to deliver a succinct message and this one was all over the place when this really needed to be her one of her best performances. While it is absolutely true that people in Alaska were trying to tear her down with false charges, it doesn't look good that when she was faced with adversity and attacks on her character that she threw in the towel. The entire basis of her candidacy was that she was a reformer and she just destroyed that. She needed to go away for a while and bone up on issues. Instead, she further embarrassed herself with odd behavior and a staff that has poorly served her.'

5) RON BONJEAN REACT, before he and his wife, Sara, headed to Jim Courtovich's Uncle Sam barbecue: 'Governor Palin can now run for President without playing the balancing act
of keep Alaskan voters happy. While she has a core following, many Republicans are getting tired of the constant drama that surrounds her family. To win over mainstream Republicans and independents, Palin
will need to start talking about important ideas and solutions instead of creating or reacting to tabloid issues.'