Palin Steps Down as Alaska Governor
World | July 27, 2009, Monday // 09:00| viewsAlaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was catapulted to national prominence as the Republican vice presidential candidate last year, gave her final speech on Sunday. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave her final speech as Alaska's governor Sunday before stepping down from her post, telling a Fairbanks crowd that she is resigning "to chart a new course to advance the state," CNN reported.
"Now people who know me, they know how much I love this state ... I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics-as-usual, lame-duck session in one's last year in office," Palin said, just moments before Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell was sworn in as governor.
"With this decision, now I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right and for the truth," Palin continued. "And I have never felt you need a title to do that."
Palin devoted much of her last address to a rundown of her accomplishments as governor, including winning legislative approval for a massive natural gas pipeline and governing "with fiscal restraint."
"What I promised, we accomplished," she told the mostly supportive crowd.
Palin has been a polarizing figure in the Republican Party since August, when then-presidential candidate John McCain made her his pick for vice president. At the time, little was known about the first-term governor.
Within days, Palin's face and strong personality was splashed across newspapers, magazines and tabloids.
The 45-year-old mother of five startled the political world earlier this month with her announcement that she was resigning as Alaska's governor.
The decision to step down a year and a half before her term ends and her often-disjointed July 3 resignation speech fueled days of debate among political analysts.
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