Letterman Joke A Big Reason Sarah Palin Resigned

Thanks Dave - hope you feel even worse for the emotional turmoil you caused this woman and her family.

The revelation that the Letterman joke played a big part in the Sarah Palin's decision to resign comes from a great article today on from an unlikely source - The Washington Post. Phillip Rucker and a team of staff writers from Wasilla to Washington found some intriguing insighte into the decision.

Here are some excerpts:

Theories abound. But some of the people closest to the Alaska governor say she wanted to regain control of a political script that slipped out of her hands the moment she burst onto the national stage. She also wanted to shield herself and her family from the attacks that seem to have been aimed permanently at them in the 311 days since Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced her as his running mate..

Palin's vulnerability masks her firepower, ambition and strong will, advisers said. Not one to fit comfortably into convention -- and not comfortable being a victim, either -- Palin spoke Friday as if she was rolling the dice and betting on herself. She presented herself as a game-changer stepping onto a stage of her own making.

This spring, as Palin was weighing whether to run for reelection in 2010, she turned to John P. Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer. He had helped her establish a political action committee and has become her political consigliere of sorts.

"She asked me, 'Well, what do you think all this is? Why are all these people attacking me?' " Coale said. "I said to her: 'Look, that's what happens. They did it to Hillary [Rodham Clinton], and Hillary just pushed through it. It's not going to really stop. . . . You just have to ignore it and move on.' "

But, Coale added, "she couldn't ignore the hits on the kids. She said, 'It brought out the mama grizzly in me.' She acted like a mother grizzly bear when her cubs were being attacked."

Her staffers wrestled publicly over whether she would appear at a big Republican fundraiser in Washington this spring. (She attended but did not speak.) Meanwhile, her teenage daughter, Bristol, and Bristol's ex-boyfriend, Levi Johnston, aired their feuds, including over the care of their infant son. Even talk show host David Letterman weighed in, joking that one of her daughters had gotten "knocked up" by baseball star Alex Rodriguez in New York.

That joke, which Palin criticized, helped persuade her to step down, Coale said.

Palin spoke to few people about her decision to step down until the announcement. "Her brother didn't even know about this," Coale said.

Her parents, Sally and Chuck Heath, in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday, offered few details about their daughter's decision.

"I know she gave it a lot of thought and prayer," Sally Heath said a few minutes before she marched in Wasilla's Fourth of July parade. "She doesn't make decisions without that. I think she made the right decision."

Most of all, others close to Palin said, the governor feels relieved that her title will soon be gone -- and with it, she hopes, some of the scrutiny.

"They're not watching much of the news, but what they have seen makes them think this is the right decision," said Jason Recher, a former McCain campaign adviser who remains close to Palin and was in touch with the family yesterday. "All the punditry and Beltway binoculars just makes their point."

To read the entire article - click here.