http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070301738.html

Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor on July 26

By Philip Rucker and Eli Saslow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 3, 2009 4:06 PM

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced this afternoon she will resign
from office on July 26 and return to private life, a stunning decision
by last year's Republican vice presidential candidate to leave office
before the end of her first term.

"We know we can effect positive change outside government at this
moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our
priorities," Palin said in a news conference alongside a lake in her
hometown of Wasilla, Alaska.

Using a basketball analogy, Palin said, "I know when it's time to pass
the ball for victory."

Palin, 45, is a major star in the GOP and is seen as a leading
candidate for the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Her
decision not to run for reelection in 2010 and to leave office
imminently came as a shock to Republican strategists today.

"We've seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican
leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that,"
said John Weaver, a longtime friend and confidant of Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.), the party's presidential nominee in 2008 whose of selection
of Palin catapulted the first-term Alaska governor to national
prominence.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (R), who will succeed Palin, appeared
with Palin and complimented her service to the state.