Mark Nickolas
Mark Nickolas is a Democratic member from Helena, MT (Managing Editor, Political Base)
In late November 2007, I became Managing Editor of Political Base, after a decade of involvement in Democratic campaigns at the presidential, Senate, gubernatorial and congressional levels and several years as publisher of the site BluegrassReport.org.
My love of politics can be summed-up by the speech that then former President Theodore Roosevelt gave at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910 formally titled "Citizenship In A Republic" but better-known as "The Man In The Arena."
It was a lengthy speech, but the following passage encapsulates why I -- and so many others in the politics -- so very much cherish the work we've done in politics over the year, regardless of whether we've won or lost a particular race:
Please feel to contact me at mark (at) politicalbase.com. I'm also on Twitter @mnickolas."It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face in marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
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Added by Mark Nickolas on Jul 3, 2009 - add as a friend | PM me
There are reports that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) is about to announce that not only will she not seek re-election next year, but she also plans to resign her seat sometime very soon. So weird.
It's one thing not to run for re-election. But to simply quit?
She is a whack job...
Update (3:35 pm ET): Apparently, it's true. From WTVA:
At an 11:00 a.m. press conference today, Governor Sarah Palin announced that she would not seek a second term as governor. The governor continued, saying that by the end of the month she would resign from the governorship.
On a day that most public employees have off, Palin sent out an early morning press release indicating that she would be giving an announcement from her home in Wasilla. Joining Palin were her parents, family and state commissioners.
Palin announced that she will transfer power to Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Parnell will be sworn in during the upcoming governor's picnic in Fairbanks on July 25. An emotionally choked-up Parnell said he plans to keep all state commissioners and continue to pursue a natural gas pipeline.
Palin did not field questions and would not give any indications as to her future plans.
Say bah-bye to her political future...she can't even finish her first term as governor...
Update #2 (3:46 pm ET): More from WTUU:
Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning.
Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the Governor's Picnic at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks on Saturday, July 25, Palin said.
There was no immediate word as to why she will resign, though speculation has been rampant that the former vice presidential candidate is gearing up for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Palin made the announcement flanked by Parnell and most, if not all, of her cabinet.
Update #3 (4:20 pm ET): Here's video of her announcement today. It's incredibly rambling, she seems to be on the verge of hyperventilating, and it's nonsensical in general. There has to be more to the story. This was political suicide. Is an indictment coming? Is an affair about to become public? Something has to be up, or she's simply crazy:
Update #4 (4:30 pm ET): Josh Marshall lays out a little of what I'm thinking:
So what happened exactly? As I just mentioned in our editorial chat, this clearly happened so quickly that Palin hasn't even had a chance to come up with a coherent cover story for her resignation. Some context is probably helpful here, however. Remember that based on the public record, Palin is a wildly unethical public official, guilty at a minimum of numerous instances of abusing her authority as governor. And a lot of very damaging information has come out about her in the last few days -- though mainly embarrassing information about her character rather than new evidence of bad acts. I would not be surprised if this latest round of revelations shook something else loose that we haven't heard about yet.
Update #5 (4:35 pm ET): Says Andrew Sullivan:
I think the simple truth is that, as even Alaskan Republicans told us last September, she was far from able to be governor of Alaska, let alone vice-president of the United States. Once the klieglights hit, it was only a matter of time before she imploded or exploded or some gruesome combination of the two. The librul media will be blamed for everything on her inexorable path to becoming a Fox News celebrity. Maybe a reality show? Someone hire her for The View!
In the end, I think, the one thing to say is that the Republican party is in such a total state of collapse and incoherence that it actually believed she could be a future president; and that John McCain was so reckless, so cynical and so cavalier that he was prepared to rest the national security of this country on her shoulders if he, in his seventies, were to become unable to fulfill his duties or die. In some ways, this is a moment to reflect on McCain, and his irresponsibility, not Palin and her drama.
Update #6 (6:18 pm ET): Asks Josh:
Any stabs at identifying the other shoe that is certain to be dropping soon?
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Limbaugh was making fun of Liberal fanatics: he was turning the tables on Bush Derangement Syndrome, wherein EVERYTHING is blamed on Bush by them. He does this all the time, and laughs about it on alternate days when (presumably) the same Liberals are not listening in; his fans LOVE these kinds of relexive responses from the two commenters above me herein. They LOVE these little Limbaugh tricks. It's humor, by exaggerating what is true or thought to be true. Every lashout at Limbaugh only makes him more popular. His listenship has gone up by a million newbies since the attacks on him went National out of DC and the Media.
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