Rambling.

      Unclear.

      Occasionally incoherent.

      And, when it was done, you're left saying, "What was THAT?"

      That was vintage Sarah Palin on display Friday as she talked refrigerator magnets, channeled her inner Pat Summitt, and announced that she wouldn't seek another term as Alaska's governor before saying, by the way, that she was quitting the job altogether, effective now.

     Some heard a confusing, fractured, off-the-cuff chat that bounced from basketball to national conspiracy to ongoing media abuse of her family.

      I heard someone clearing the decks for the future.

      There's no glory in being the governor of Alaska--Palin already maxed that out when John McCain made her his running mate.      That foray gave her a taste for the national spotlight and I don't get the feeling she's gotten her fill. 

      Remaining Alaska's governor while trying to keep the fires of 2012 burning would leave her open to criticism that she allowed her state to go fallow while she was hitting every Iowa fundraiser and New Hampshire Lincoln Day dinner.       Her ambition would be used as a weapon against her.    Now, she's free to position herself as a maverick in waiting, the heir to the unfinished effort she and McCain launched in '08.

      Nowhere in her speech did I hear her say she was going to retract or withdraw.      She spoke of some strange vote the family had, punctuated by a "hell-yeah".    

      She's got a big legal bill to pay amid ongoing ethics charges.      She can sell books.     She can raise cash, and not have to worry about running the 49th state as she does it.     She doesn't need to raise her national profile--it's about as high and hot as it can be.   What it needs is buffing, amid polls that show many of you don't think she's ready to the rigors of federal office.      Meetings with foreign leaders, fact-finding missions and well-placed op-ed pieces can do something to change that.   

      You haven't seen the last of Sarah Palin.     She wasn't very clear Friday as she left office, but it's very obvious she's got a plan for the days and years ahead.