Sarah Palin Steps Down As Alaska’s Governor

Fairbanks, AK (AHN) – With pomp and ceremony Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared she had finished the work she had intended to do as governor, officially stepped down from office Sunday and turned the reigns of governing over to Lt. Gov Sean Parnell.

She spoke for the last time as governor to a crowd at a farewell picnic in her honor at a park in Fairbanks, televised live. Palin’s resignation came 18 months before her term expired and sparked both criticism and approval for the unorthodox move by the former Republican vice presidential candidate.

Her appearance on the open-air stage drew applause and whistles as she thanked the people of Alaska and extolled the natural beauty of Alaska. “In this last frontier there is hope,” Palin said, referring to Alaska. She then went on to stress the importance of the nation’s military.

Saying that she was going to exercise her “freedom of speech,” she delivered a message to the media on its importance in reporting facts, saying: “Democracy is up to you.” She then called on the media to “quit makin’ things up,” to honor soldiers. She also called on the media to leave the new governor’s children alone. Both of those comments drew applause.

Palin then launched into comments about the Constitution and remembered her early days in office and patted herself on the back for ethics reforms and other things she had done in office.

She also talked about the necessity of developing natural resources as she talked about how far Alaska had come in the past 50 years, and emphasized the need to be pro-development while being pro-environment. “Alaska is the gatekeeper of the continent,” Palin said, and added that they were there for a changing of the guard.

She emphasized that she had resigned to avoid being a lame-duck, which would enable her to fight even harder for the people of Alaska and champion the state, smaller government and freedom “like that grizzly guards her cubs.”

Video of Palin’s speech as follows:

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