Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's 2008 vice presidential nominee, said love of her remote state, her country and family prompted her abrupt resignation this weekend as Alaska governor. "Those who know me know this is the right decision and obvious decision," Palin wrote Saturday in a posting on the Facebook social networking website.
"How sad that Washington and the media will never understand - it's about country," she said. "Though it's honourable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make.
"But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it's right for all - including your family." Earlier Saturday Palin, 45, announced she is stepping down as governor, fuelling swift speculation of a possible 2012 White House bid, a move that she said was in the best interests of Alaska.
She took a swipe at the mainstream media for a reaction to her resignation she described as "predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the 'politics of personal destruction'." She added: "My family and I determined after prayerful consideration that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most," she said.