Maybe it is a brilliant strategy of Palin? focusing on the Base that Loves her

(Mamapundit)..It’s certainly possible that she’s leaving her post in advance of some big, ugly, serious scandal becoming public, but if not, then she’s made the best political move I can imagine in her plan to run for president in 2012. . Sure, some Alaskans will be irritated. And some Americans will consider her a quitter. But as Palin begins to build her national organization in earnest,the folks in the lower 48 who will express their disapproval of her resignation don’t like Palin anyway, no matter what she does.

So what are the benefits to Palin? They are huge. First of all, her resignation offers the very basic positive of immediately freeing her from the ethical and logistical constraints that come with her office; as givernor, she can’t leave Alaska too often. She can’t raise money as easily. She has to deal with day to day tasks of actually governing, and she has to face the press scrutiny that comes with being a high-profile, sitting public official. So Palin resigns yesterday, pointing to the truly unprecedented way she continues to be trashed in the media , but very enthusiastic and cohesive base: the rightest of right wing Republicans, plus Evangelical Christians. They love her already; now she becomes a crusading martyr with a story to tell, and a comeback to plan. While her base doesn’t actually have enough votes on their own to get her elected, she can spend the next 18 months wringing every last penny they have to give out of them, money she can then parlay into a more comprehensive and well-financed campaign organization that will do its job of turning that money into votes outside of her base. For the next year and a half, Palin will be on the road continuously, speaking, rallying and passing the hat at churches, pro-life meetings, and gun advocacy groups.

It’s brilliant, I tell you. Don’t underestimate Sarah Palin. Any woman who can calmly stare down David Letterman, without blinking, forcing a humiliating public apology out of a man who routinely makes lesser mortals weep via his withering excoriation is a woman with a plan. A big plan.

BILL KRISTOL: PROBABLY A GAMBLE