Political Memo: If White House Is Her Goal, Palin’s Route Is Risky

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
NYT

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska offered few hints of what her next stage in national politics might be when she unexpectedly announced that she was quitting her job, other than to say on her Facebook page on Saturday that she was “now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together.”

But if some of her supporters are correct in surmising what she is doing — turning full time to preparing herself, after a tough year, for a presidential campaign in 2012 — it represents a huge gamble, even by the standards of a politician whose short career has been shaped by huge gambles.

For some Republicans, the comparison that came to mind was when Richard M. Nixon announced in 1962 that he was leaving politics for good, after losing the governor’s race in California, two years after a failed White House bid.

In fact, Nixon used the next six years to quietly refurbish his image, building ties with the conservative wing that was becoming ascendant in the Republican Party, ingratiating himself with Republican senators and candidates for governor by campaigning on their behalf, and becoming better schooled in issues. (He even made efforts, though decidedly limited, to fix his difficult relationship with the news media.)

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