CNN has details of her announcement:
"Palin added in a statement that she was "determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is not the easiest path. … Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional lame duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose."
A Republican source close to her political team told CNN's John King that it was a "calculation" she made that "it was time to move on." The governor's "book deal and other issues" were "causing a lot of friction" in her home state, the source said, adding that he believes she is "mapping out a path to 2012."
Another source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Palin "thinks she has accomplished goals she has set forward. … She sees what a positive influence she has had on people's lives from traveling the country in the last year."
Following Palin's announcement, the Democratic National Committee blasted what it called her "bizarre behavior."
"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.
"Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today." "
Peep CNN's video of her longwinded speech. Is she playing offensive PR or is this a smart political power move?
Something in the milk ain't clean?