Palin aide: ‘People are focused on bringing her down’

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A spokeswoman for Sarah Palin blamed the swarm of ethics complaints that have dogged the Alaska governor for Friday’s surprise announcement that she would be leaving office by the end of the month.

When the former Republican vice presidential candidate returned to Alaska after the campaign and pressed her agenda, “she found…resistance, and she found as she looked up more and more that state time and resources were being just wasted with just frivolous ethics complaints coming in, and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and lawsuits — but to an extraordinary extent, and from literally those doing opposition research,” spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton told CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux on The Situation Room Friday. “And so she said really, is this good for Alaska? Is this what a governor is supposed to do, sit and watch money going down the drain?”

Palin’s return to her home state has been a rocky one. Beyond a flood of ethics complaints — most of which have been dismissed — the governor was forced to backtrack on her decision to reject federal stimulus funds, her pick for attorney general was rejected by an increasingly hostile legislature, and her personal life has continued to grab headlines.

Stapleton denied that Palin was leaving office because she’d decided her lightning rod status was a liability to the state — but conceded that the governor felt personally targeted. “I know you want to put that sort of negative word in there, but it’s not a ‘liability’ — it’s that she has a vision for the state…the best way and the best place to effect change at this point is outside her role as governor, because as governor people are just focused on bringing her down rather than building up the state, and that’s not who she is.”

Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell told CNN the governor told him of her decision to resign Wednesday night, the day after the release of a tough Vanity Fair profile that featured a fresh round of criticism from former McCain-Palin campaign staffers.

“You know, I was surprised at first, and didn’t understand, because i think the traditional political thing to do is to stay in a position like that, and then, you know, leverage it into something greater. But that’s not Sarah Palin,” he said, praising her “independent streak.” “She is a real person with real dreams for real people, and when she believes she can effect better change for others through other means, she’s just going to do that.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday Palin might be able to make a difference this year, as the party focuses on gubernatorial races in two key swing states. “I plan on talking to Governor Palin very soon,” he said in a statement. “She is an important and galvanizing voice in the Republican Party. I believe she will be very helpful to the Party this year as we wage critical campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey. I am certain this has been a difficult decision for her to step down as Alaska’s governor. She has been a good governor for her state and I wish her and the Palin family the best during this transition.”

Mitt Romney — who stepped down as Massachusetts governor before launching his 2008 presidential bid — had a pithier reaction. “I wish Sarah Palin and her family well, and I know that she will continue to be a strong voice in the Republican Party,” he said, in a statement released by his Free and Strong America PAC.

Romney, Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were essentially locked in a three-way tie as frontrunners among potential Republican primary voters in the most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll of 2012 presidential preferences.