Microscope Follows Palin Back to Alaska

After campaign whirlwind, guv left 'feeling beaten up'

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted Feb 18, 2009 12:16 PM CST

(Newser) – After the 2008 campaign clock struck midnight, Sarah Palin returned to Alaska with a mixed bag of name recognition and unwanted scrutiny, the Washington Post reports. Supporters and opponents alike parse her every move for signs of a 2012 presidential run, and her role as conservative attack dog is coloring her ability to govern. “The governor has been feeling beaten up,” says a fellow Republican.

Meanwhile, although an aide says Palin hasn't even decided whether to run for re-election in 2010, she remains a national figure, which may not be the wisest course if the presidential speculation is on the money. Says a national GOP operative: “She should try to disappear for a while and be an indisputably effective governor."

[Images (3)]

[Videos (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin answers a question during a news conference, in Juneau, Alaska Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Miller)

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin greets her husband Todd at the finish line of the 2009 Tesoro Iron Dog on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. (AP Photo/Sam Harrel)

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives the state of the state address to a joint session of the Senate and House in the Capitol in Juneau, Alaska on in this Thursday Jan. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

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http://AmericasNewsToday.Org/ Gov. Sarah Palin Shows Off Her New Grandson to Greta Van Susteren (AmericasNewsTodayOrg)

Bristol Palin: Abstinence-only not realisticBy David Edwards Foxs Greta Van Susteren talked with Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, about being a teen mother. Palin told Susteren that she differed with he mother on abstinence-only programs. Everyone should be abstinent but its not realistic [sex] is more and more accepted among kids my age, said Palin.This video is from Foxs On the Record, broadcast Feb. 16, 2009. (Subscribe4MoreNews)

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She looked ill at ease, more defensive than we've been accustomed to seeing her. - Anonymous legislator

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Microscope Follows Palin Back to Alaska