My take here is that if this is a clear the decks move to start a run at the presidency in 2012 it is a serious tactical error on her part. This can easily be spun (and already has been) as abandoning the constituents she was elected to represent in order to pursue personal ambition, or spun as (and this has been heard too) that she can't handle the heat of a staggering economy and declining oil revenues in her home state.

The old political apparatchik in me smells something underneath this, however. There have been implications of ethical misconduct that began well before her VP run, and I can't help but wonder if she's getting out before chickens come home to roost.

Either way, its interesting but not significant. Palin has no legitimate shot at the presidency, and the GOP (despite its remarkable aim in shooting itself in the foot of late) knows it.