keep talking Sarah, just keep talking...she can only help flush the republican party down the toilet. just keep talking.

A Republican source close to her political team told CNN's John King that it was a "calculation" she made that "it was time to move on." The governor's "book deal and other issues" were "causing a lot of friction" in her home state, the source said, adding that he believes she is "mapping out a path to 2012."

"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

"Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today."

Republican strategist and CNN contributor Ed Rollins said, to a certain extent, Palin's announcement makes her look "terribly inept."

"I think everyone is shocked by this, and I think to a certain extent everyone is going to assume there's another story. You don't just quit with a year and a half to go. You certainly don't do this as a stepping stone to run for president. You finish the job that you're in, and obviously she's not doing that," he said.

"I think people are going to be very suspicious because of the timing. You don't quit on the Friday of a three-day holiday. If you are going to do this, you think it through, you give a good speech," Rollins said.

A local NBC affiliate reports that "there was no immediate word as to why she will resign, though speculation has been rampant that the former vice presidential candidate is gearing up for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination."

Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News yesterday that Palin "is not a serious candidate for the presidency." "You cannot sustain a campaign of platitudes and clich

...Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News yesterday that Palin "is not a serious candidate for the presidency." "You cannot sustain a campaign of platitudes and cliches over a year and a half if you're running for the presidency," he said.

Calling into Fox News after the announcement, Bill Kristol said, "If I had to guess, we just saw the opening statement of the 2012 campaign."

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell reports: "Talking to people who are very close to Sarah Palin, I have been told that she has told her supporters that she is out of politics, period. She is fed up with politics. She doesn't like her life. She feels like she has to raise her family. She's sick of the commute from Wasilla to the capital and she really does not want to run for higher office. This is not the case where she is stepping down in order to figure the way for a presidential run. In fact, she has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choose other candidates for 2012."