Is this the end of Sarah Palin? Of course not!

The reasons behind Sarah Palin’s resignation are not yet fully known, but conservatives and liberals alike are already declaring her political career over. Ed Morrissey writes at Hot Air, “It’s a big disappointment, and it’s the end of any hope of Palin getting taken seriously as a politician on the national level in the future.”

Why would this be “the end of any hope”? People are treating this as if it’s a scandal. It’s not. Liberals will construe it to mean she’s erratic, unreliable, not up to the job, etc. But Sarah Palin has been hit with liberal smear attacks from the day of her nomination.  They do nothing to dissuade her base.

Politicians have survived much worse than Palin’s current non-scandal. Governor Mark Sanford recently abandoned his state for a week to philander in Argentina - what Quin Hillyer at The American Spectator might call “an appalling dereliction of duty.“  Nonetheless, Sanford gives no indication of resigning.  The people of South Carolina will, in short time, forgive him.

Senator Larry Craig remained Senator Larry Craig until the end of his term.  Even a messy homosexual incident at the Minneapolis airport couldn’t terminate his political career.  His wife stood by him and the story quickly faded from the news.

Bill Clinton’s devotees immediately forgave him when he came clean about Monica.  It didn’t matter that she was just a 22 year-old girl or that he had repeatedly lied about their relationship.  The excitement passed and Clinton left office with high approval ratings.  Only when his wife committed the blasphemy of defying The Chosen One did his popularity decline.

Marion Barry served as mayor of D.C. from 1979 to 1991, and then again from 1995 to 1999.  The gap in his service was a result of his high-profile arrest on drug charges.

In 2006, federal agents raided the home of Congressman William Jefferson and found $90,000 cash in his freezer.  The congressman had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in political bribes.  Louisianans re-elected him the same year.

Those are political scandals.  They involve bribes, drugs, affairs, criminal activity.  Sarah Palin resigning as governor before her term is up is not a political scandal.  Judging by what politicians have survived in the past, I’m sure voters will forgive her - if they even think it was a bad move.

One of the themes of her speech was that her national enemies were devoting so much time and money to attacking her in Alaska, and it took so much time and money to fight back, that she could no longer be an effective governor.  The frivolous ethics complaints cost Alaskans millions.  Palin’s a national figure now, and apparently there’s no turning back.  She’s correct that she could better serve Alaska from a different post.  Like she said, life is short — so why wait until her term ends if the country is ready for her to move forward now?

She also mentioned the vile attacks on her children, attacks which she has repeatedly said are far worse than anything she ever expected.  Parts of her speech sounded like she was quitting politics to focus on her kids.  If she’s decided the political career is detrimental to her children, then good for her for making the necessary changes. Why wait until her term ends if her kids need her in a different role now?

There’s also a remote possibility she’s about to fall into a legitimate political scandal and resigning was a way to soften the blow.  HuffPost bloggers are convinced she’ll be imprisoned before month’s end.

If she is in a true scandal, it still doesn’t matter.  Americans are forgiving.  This is not “the end of any hope.”  Neither abandoning her post nor getting arrested will keep Palin from getting elected.  If she chooses to run, Americans will embrace her — whether in 2012, 2016, or 2032.