[Video] Sarah Palin Resigns as Alaska's Governor  

Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate who electrified the GOP campaign last year, will resign as Alaska's governor later this month.

She built strong support among conservative Republicans as John McCain's running mate last year, and now says she will step down in three weeks because she can contribute more away from politics.

As you can imagine there is a great deal of speculation as to the reasons behind her decision, but in the clip below you can hear her in her own words. The crux of her logic seems to be that she’s quitting because it’s in Alaska’s best interest, not her own. If it turns out this was nothing more than a way of clearing her schedule to start early on running for president, her primary opponents will never let her hear the end of it.

Update via HotAir: Real Clear Politics has video of Mitchell’s report, including the detail that Palin’s allegedly told her top backers to go ahead and commit to other candidates for 2012. Bill Kristol thinks resigning now could actually be a bold gambit to free herself up for an intense presidential campaign, but I think she’s following more of a Nixonian strategy here. I.e. it could be she’s burned out on politics and dispirited by all the garbage she’s put up with and wants to get away at an opportune moment.

Then again, perhaps she's simply a mother of five who has decided instead of cranking through the political wheelhouse for another term, she wants to take the time to be with her family and her youngest son Trig who suffers from Down Syndrome.

One thing is for sure, her announcement leaves a great deal of questions and speculation.