So what were the past two years all about then? (Alaska Dispatch): On Wednesday, more than a few Alaskans were wondering if Jon Stewart, the host of "The Daily Show'' on the Comedy Channel, hadn't hit close to home when he looked at what Palin has been up to in recent months and posited that someone who drives around the country in a bus all painted up campaign style with a gaggle of reporters in pursuit is either running for president or is a crazy person. And running for president is no longer an option.
Pitch-perfect Palin (C. Edmund Wright, American Thinker): Her not running might well be among the least important topics she touched on [Wednesday]. Yes, I know that's the news that everybody was waiting for -- but what interested me most was what Palin said about her vision for America and how she said it. It was crafted very intentionally --and it was simply pitch-perfect. Palin spoke of ideas and priorities. These were above and beyond what particular position she -- or anyone else -- might play in our arena of ideas. That she's still very much in the arena -- and planning on making a difference -- is obvious.
She took the easy way out (Steve Kornacki, Salon): If she put her name on the ballot and finished as an asterisk, it would prove once and for all that the empress had no clothes, and that there was no point in continuing to treat her as an unusually important and influential political leader.
Die-hard fans 'stunned,' some are angry (Shushannah Walshe, ABC News): She inspired a passionate support system willing to defend her at all times. Supporters even asked others in the [Conservatives4Palin] community to bet on Intrade that Palin would run in the hopes that it would encourage her to. These are some of the people who will be the most heartbroken, and it's there that angry supporters that feel jilted are posting and commiserating, a sign that a real backlash against Palin is building in response to her decision.
Ultimately, she couldn't face the scrutiny a campaign would bring (Joe McGinniss, for The Daily Beast): In researching my new book about her ... I learned enough about her opportunism, her narcissism, and her essential unseriousness to come away convinced that however much she might yearn for the powers of the presidency, she doesn't have the heart or the mind needed to wage a sustained campaign for the office.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.