Campaign role changed how Palin was perceived

Sarah Palin's attorney Thomas V. Van Flein, in an interview with The Washington Post this week, said Gov. Palin's assigned role as a pit bull with lipstick in the 2008 presidential campaign altered the way she was perceived back home in Alaska:

He said Alaska lawmakers and residents were accustomed to a bipartisan governor, and were taken by surprise by much of the criticism Palin aimed at Obama and Biden during the campaign.

"Lines were drawn. McCain was to play the role of statesman and Palin was to play the role of a partisan," he said. "She didn't change but the people around her, their perspective of her changed."

Van Flein said Sarah Palin is resigning because of the combative relationship between the governor and the state legislature and because of the distractions and costs of defending herself against a series of ethics complaints.

The Alaska lawyer said that while Gov. Palin has no new job offers, she has "received hundreds of credible offers since the campaign, none of which she has accepted or pursued, with the exception of her book deal."

Among the offers were media jobs, including offers to host a talk show, and requests for her to appear in Hollywood productions, he said, but would not be more specific.

Van Flein said although he hopes Palin will allow herself to take time to rest and spend more time with her family, "she is a woman with a lot of energy. We'll see."

- JP