Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and former Vice Presidential nominee for John McCain’s 2008 campaign, announced an abrupt resignation from her role as chief executive of the nation’s largest state today. Some are speculating this is a preparation for a 2012 run for the Oval Office, some are reporting that she’s out of politics forever. Regardless of which is true, Sarah Palin’s future as a Republican standard bearer is very much in doubt. And if you’re looking for someone with questions to answer, it ought to be John McCain.

Prior to her selection for the VP nomination, Sarah Palin wasn’t very well known outside of a select set of GOP politicos. In early 2008, before the Republican presidential nominee was decided and long before Sarah Palin was plucked from Wasilla, Alaska, I was at a small gathering of fellow GOP politicos at a country home outside of Austin, Texas. At one point in the evening, after a few beers and some fantastic steaks, the conversation turned to presidential politics. None of us in attendance were particularly ecstatic about the 2008 GOP field, so we began talking about your up-and-coming Republican talent, those likely for 2012 or 2016. In the mix was, of course, Governor of neighboring Louisiana Bobby Jindal, and a little-known Governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin.

We talked at length that evening about how it would be a major step forward for Republicans to nominate a woman for President. We all especially liked that Palin was educated on energy issues and connected well with the base as a strong proponent of pro-life policies. It also didn’t hurt that she was a fresh face, and a lovely one at that, who could breathe new life into an aging party. Then the fall came, and all of sudden Palin was thrust front and center.

Almost from the get-go, Palin was a target for the mainstream media. They made fun of her accent, speculated about her family, her children in particular, and tried to paint her as a ditzy good-for-nothing Governor of an insignificant state, far from their reality of East and West Coast America. Tina Fey’s portrayal of Palin became a huge hit on Saturday Night Live, garnering the show higher ratings and increased buzz. It almost seemed as if part of the media’s mission to elect Obama had to include tearing down this rising conservative star from Wasilla, Alaska.

Some said the McCain campaign only plucked the Alaska Governor for her appeal to a GOP base that was wary of McCain’s repeated betrayals of the Party and willingness to buck leadership and side with the Democrats. In what may have been a surprise to everyone, even the Republican nominee himself, Palin turned out to be nothing short of a Republican rock star.

The energy her nomination injected into the campaign of an aging, he’s-earned-it, it’s-his-turn, campaign was nothing short of shocking. Huge crowds gathered where ever she appeared. “Drill, Baby, Drill,” a call for increased domestic production of oil, something Palin was incredibly knowledgeable about as Governor of a state rich in petroleum and natural gas reserves, became the battle cry of Republicans at McCain campaign rallies. McCain and some of his staff, though, always seemed a little uncomfortable with the bright lights and big crowds that followed their new Number Two. Rumors of staff fights on the campaign between McCain loyalists and those who were close to the Governor became the talk of GOP cocktail parties. Through all the pressure and harsh reviews though, Palin stood as an inspiration to many a Republican woman, and conservatives in the party who needed a little reassurance that McCain wasn’t going to leave them at the doorstep should he win. They felt reassured that their voice would be represented by the stunning new star slotted to be the second in command.

None of this ended up mattering in the long run, as the McCain-Palin ticket went down to defeat in the face of an overwhelming excitement for an inexperienced, but highly-personable Senator from Illinois whose backing from a shady ACORN get-out-the-vote effort and a media who lapped up his every word propelled him to be the first African-American President and the savior of the Left who were drowning in eight years of a conservative Bush administration. When the dust settled, McCain went back to his role as the curmudgeon of the Senate, and Palin returned to Alaska popular with a national Republican base, many of whom had no idea who she was prior to McCain’s selection.

Palin’s resignation announcement today can mean one of only three things. One, there is a Sanford-like scandal waiting in the wings, sure to sink the Governor, and as a deal to keep it from being exposed, she agreed to resign. Two, she has been so rustled, so torn down by the relentless attacks of the mainstream media — the Letterman jokes about her underage daughter, the offensive attacks on her Downs Syndrome stricken son, Trig and the general slandering of her character — that she’s decided she’s had enough and is hanging up the spurs for good. Finally, in what I think is not the most likely option anymore, she is leaving Alaska now with plans to move to the lower 48, or at least travel there extensively, garner support from party loyalists, and run for President in 2012.

Let’s examine that last possibility first. If Palin wanted to run for President, why on God’s green Earth would she leave her office a full year and a half before she is required to? She could have simply announced today that she was simply not seeking re-election and was going to wish those who succeed her well as she moved on to bigger and better things (i.e., a run for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). There is no need to bow out early.

Bill Kristol though, a supporter of the Governor, thinks this could be a good move for Palin, setting her up as the party’s national leader they’ve been clamoring for since the end of the campaign. “Haven’t conservatives been lamenting the lack of a national leader? Well, now she’ll try to be that.” The Politico’s Mike Allen also mentioned that this would free Palin from the tricky task of running for President while still trying to run Alaska: “With the decision, Palin liberates herself from the political constraints that come with running for president while still in elected office.” Many a politician though, including our Dear Leader, has run for higher office while holding onto their gig du jour. And, besides that, what is the reason for leaving her office so soon, many, many months before the end of her current term?

Republican Governor’s Association head Nick Ayers said today that Palin is seeking to make a bigger impact nationally, something she mentioned in her press conference today. The Governor is already popular among the GOP base, and recent attacks on her have only helped to galvanize some of that support for her. She is a potential cash cow for 2010 candidates, perhaps the most sought after “Special Guest” at fundraisers across the country from Republicans running for dog catcher to Governor to Senator. Everyone wants Sarah Palin as their big drag for a high dollar event! She already wields a big political bat, at least among the conservative wing of the Republican Party, would she really need to leave her post early to increase that influence?

Which may bring us to the first option I mentioned. Is there a scandal of epic proportions waiting just off the front page of a newspaper or blog, waiting to break about her or her family that may tarnish her reputation, fundraising ability or potential book sales? In the wake of Senator Ensign, a rising possibility for 2012, and Governor Sanford, a sure-fire 2012 star, could Palin be the next on the list of GOP hopefuls to fall victim to terrible scandal? I would say no, that it would shock and surprise me, but after the blindside hit that was Sanford, who knows.

That brings us to the last possibility: Sarah Palin is resigning because the relentless pounding, the never-ending taunting, the improper and unwarranted attacks on her and her family have finally driven the Governor past the point of no return, beyond anything that she can continue to put her family through, and instead, she has decided to remove them from the spotlight altogether and retire from public life.

In her speech today, Palin noted the “superficial political blood sport” that has dogged her since she was thrust into the national spotlight in 2008. Ethics investigations, and a constant barrage of negative stories in the media lately have clearly taken their toll. In fact, in recent days, the specter of the McCain campaign has gone after Palin anew. An unvarnished hit piece that appears in the August issue of Vanity Fair asks this critical question, among others:

How could John McCain, one of the cagiest survivors in contemporary politics—with a fine appreciation of life’s injustices and absurdities, a love for the sweep of history, and an overdeveloped sense of his own integrity and honor—ever have picked a person whose utter shortage of qualification for her proposed job all but disqualified him for his?

The article goes on to include claims from unnamed McCain campaign aides that Palin was suffering from postpartum depression from the recent birth of her son Trig, and that it dramatically impacted her ability to effectively campaign for the ticket. This sparked a feud in recent days between differing sects of the GOP, with Palin’s supporters blaming McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt of spreading vile rumors critical of Palin. The rage that some former McCain staffer still feels for their choice for VP is astonishing, and their need to stir the pot and serve as anonymous sources for hit pieces is a baffling degree of CYA. Do they really believe that she was the barrier to victory after an election where McCain was clearly ahead after her selection and the convention bounce, and clearly lost after his abrupt mishandling of the economic crisis?

John McCain lost. Barack Obama won. Sarah Palin was not the reason for the defeat. In fact, I would argue that McCain would have lost by a larger margin had he chosen someone more moderate, like himself, as a running mate. Had it been a McCain-Graham (Lindsey), or McCain-Liberman ticket, the Republican base would have been more likely to just stay home that November day, and let the old man go down in flames. Instead, Palin’s placement on the ticket turned out thousands at rallies across the country, electrifying many in the base. Steve Schmidt and his cohort shouldn’t be blaming Palin and tearing her down; they should be thanking the Governor for the new life she breathed into that walking-dead campaign. But instead, they’re determined to cover their own vast mistakes in that campaign (and botched handling of the governor herself) with a continuing avalanche of leaks.

In the end, Palin’s career has actually suffered thanks to accepting John McCain’s invitation. McCain’s minions may have helped the media, the lefty blogosphere, the late night shows, and the litigious liberal trial lawyers do what they do so well: tear down yet another rising GOP star. At this rate, the McCain campaign (so much more active now than they ever were when it mattered) is working to relegate the Republican party to further obscurity, pushing the GOP back from the finish line. They’ve spent the past few months doing to the party exactly what McCain did for so many years: stab leading conservatives in the back, to the fawning purrs of the mainstream media.

The future of the Republican party just a few short months ago seemed to lie in the hands of fiscal conservative champions like Mark Sanford and social conservative stalwarts like Sarah Palin. Now two of the names we bantered about that Texas evening may be gone from our potential leadership lists forever. The young rising woman who we all hoped would serve as a possible hope for leadership in our party and our country may have been driven out of political office. Sure, she’ll stick around and raise money for some candidates, sell some books, and perhaps blog or get a “Fox News Contributor” slapped behind her name, but Sarah Palin’s Presidential potential may have been swept away today in the Alaskan summer breeze.

Thanks so much, John McCain & Co. Just keep on being yourselves.

Read more at Brad Jackson’s blog.