What political leaders are saying

-- Fred Malek, a national Republican fundraiser

"She's my governor just like she's every Alaskan's governor and to have her quit midstream is kind of un-Alaskan."

-- State Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage

"Seated governors just don't resign in the last year of their term, no matter how successful -- or, for that matter, unsuccessful -- they've been. Right now there are a lot more questions than answers."

-- State Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage

"She can become a much more functional spokesman for Alaska working from a more southerly location."

-- Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Republican Party of Alaska

"All of Sarah's decisions have been very easy for me to support, and I will support this one. But this one took me aback a little bit."

-- Joe Schmidt, state commissioner of corrections and a Palin friend

"I suppose it frees her from the responsibility of a full-time job. It does nothing to enhance the image she has that she's not material for the president of the United States."

-- Whit Ayers, Republican pollster

"Sarah Palin has always been an intensely independent woman -- always true to her faith, her family and call to public service."

-- Marjorie Dannenfelser, co-founder of the Team Sarah social networking Web site

"If it's a political move geared at 2012, it's one of the most politically tone-deaf moves in years. Two and a half years as governor doesn't mean you shouldn't be president; look at Barack Obama. But it doesn't set you up for anything, either."

-- Stuart Roy, Republican national political consultant

"It's like the kid who leaves college early for the NBA draft and says, 'This is when I am at my height in the market and I'm going for it.' "

-- Larry Persily, a former Palin aide now working for state Rep. Mike Hawker

"We've seen a lot of nutty behavior from governors and Republican leaders in the last three months, but this one is at the top of that."

John Weaver, confidant of Palin's running mate last fall, Sen. John McCain