Former Republican vice-presidential candidate leaves no hints to next steps as she receives rock star farewell

Sarah Palin begins the next stage of her highly unpredictable political life today having bowed out of her post of governor of Alaska 16 months before the term ends.

The official resignation at a governor’s picnic yesterday in Fairbanks leaves Palin relieved of the bureaucratic burdens that had started to weigh her down in recent months. Supporters hope and believe she will use her newfound freedom to vigorously pursue a national profile that will lead to a run on the White House in 2012.

But plain Sarah Palin, devoid of the governor’s title, is also left without a formal political power base from which to kickstart any national campaign. She carries with her financial debts, ongoing ethics battles related to her term in office, and the new label of “quitter”.

Exactly what she will do with her ample spare time remains one of the hottest political questions in America today. The only known date in her diary is 8 August, when she will make a speech at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in California.

Pundits are equally divided between those who are convinced she is finished, and those who think the Palin spectacle has only just begun. Part of the reason for the polarised response is that Palin is herself a polarising politician, and part because she herself offers so little in the way of explanation.

Her most effusive comments these days are via Twitter, and they only add to the confusion. Recently she posted an overtly political tweet, such as “Aint gonna shut my mouth/I know there’s got to be a few hundred million more like me/just trying to keep it free”.

Then on Saturday, she implied her mind was miles away from Washington: “W/kids in camper; on World’s Best Rd Trip! To soar by Mt.McKinley & rushing rivers, we remember all of AK is BIG/WILD/GOOD LIFE; feel freedom here.”

Her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, insists there is no game plan for life outside the governor’s mansion. “I cannot express enough there is no plan after 26 July,” she told Associated Press. “On 27 July, we’ll sit down and say, ‘Okay, here are your options. How do you now want to effect that positive change for Alaska from outside the role as governor?’”

Palin underlined her enduring popularity in her home state over the weekend. Thousands turned out for a farewell picnic in Anchorage yesterday, where the Anchorage Daily News noted she received “rock star treatment”.

But on the wider political stage there are signs of slippage. A Washington Post-ABC poll found she was viewed unfavourably by 53%, with only 40% recording a favourable rating.