Well, at least Palin isn't boring

Like everyone else, I'm completely baffled by Sarah Palin's decision to step down as governor of Alaska. Not only did it come as a total shock to everyone, but she still hasn't offered any sort of realistic explanation. (I even signed up for a Twitter account just so I can follow her, because Twitter is where she said she's going to provide "info on decision to not seek re-election.")

But let's be serious: there are really only two options here. Either (1) a scandal is about to break, and she's resigning preemptively; or (2) she was originally going to announce just that she wasn't running for re-election in Alaska (thus opening the way for a 2012 presidential run), but convinced herself in the past couple of days—probably with the help of her inner circle of advisers—that the best move was to resign now and get a head start on the preparation for her presidential campaign.

My sense is that option (2) is the more likely explanation. I think Palin genuinely believes that resigning as governor now and becoming a full-time party leader/pundit is a savvy political move. If that's what she thinks, then she's very, very wrong. But that doesn't mean that's not what she thinks.

I'm still holding out hope for option (1) as the explanation though. Just for pure entertainment value.