Sarah Palin chose a slow news day before a holiday to shake up the political world, saying she will step down as governor of Alaska but leaving open the question of her political future.
"We've got to put first things first. I love my job, and I love Alaska. I am doing what's best for Alaska," Palin said Friday at a televised news conference in her hometown of Wasilla.
Palin said she hoped people would not be disappointed by the decision, which she said she had contemplated for some time.
She said she was taking "my fight for what's right in a new direction."
Palin said she could be more effective and better serve Alaska and the country from outside the governor's office.
At a news conference before the Fourth of July weekend, Palin said she would step aside and be replaced by Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell on July 26. She said the transition of power would be smooth. She took no questions.
Palin, who is very popular with the Republican Party's conservative base, was considered a possibility for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Not being governor would free her to concentrate on accumulating resources for a national race.
Palin did not say that's what she intended to do.
The governor said she was willing to transfer power so that the current Alaska administration can continue.
"My choice is to take a stand and effect change and not just hit our head against the wall," Palin said while surrounded by her family and top state officials.
"Millions of dollars go down the drain in this new political environment," she said.
"Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government," she continued, and "actually make a difference."
Palin criticized recent political attacks, including one from former campaign aides of Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who headed the GOP presidential ticket in 2008.
"You are naive if you don't see a full-court press from the national level picking away a good point guard," she said, referring to criticism of her campaigning style.
The most recent criticism was in an article in the magazine Vanity Fair.
Palin, elected in 2006, is in her first term as governor. Despite bickering with the state Legislature, she probably would have been re-elected next year, and may have done serious damage to her political aspirations by stepping down now, according to Ivan Moore, an independent pollster in Anchorage, Alaska.
