Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin dashed the hopes of her many supporters when she announced Wednesday evening her decision not to run for president in 2012.
Palin broke the news on Mark Levin’s radio program. In a letter to supporters, she wrote, “After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States.”
“As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision,” Palin wrote. “When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.”
Palin told Levin that she would not run as a third-party candidate and instead will concentrate on coordinating “strategies to assist in replacing the president, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.”
Dozens of commenters on Conservatives4Palin.com, an online hub for Palin supporters, reacted angrily to the news of her decision.
Many of the commenters expressed outrage that Palin had declined to run after months, if not years, of speculation. “To the people who said they knew Sarah Palin wasn’t running,” wrote commenter Jarred113, “You we’re right. She played everybody for the money. Goodbye, cruel world.” (RELATED: Palin: I won’t run for president in 2012)
“It’s as simple as this: Sarah Palin is NOT who most of us thought she was,” a commenter called Jules wrote. “She is nothing but a politician that cashed in on her supporters for 3 years to get rich and famous.”
A commenter named Dave Kawaski wrote that he had “never felt so betrayed in my life.” Jeffjackie said he felt “absolutely betrayed.”
“We all look like dupes now to the Palin haters,” he continued.
Not all of Palin’s online fans turned on her, however, and some rushed to her defense.
“I’ll continue to live out this pledge of my allegiance to her and her alone,” wrote happymullah. “I’ll also continue to donate to SarahPAC.” Founders91 agreed, saying he would “continue to support her and SarahPAC, because she has affected change for the better and has proven it before.”
“My trust runs pretty deep,” wrote commenter Rich Hahn. “Sarah has been completely honest with us. She never said she was running, just that she was seriously considering it. “
While some supporters said they would now vote for former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain or Congressman Ron Paul in Republican primaries, others expressed doubt that the republic could continue without a President Palin.
After her appearance on Mark Levin’s radio show on Wednesday evening, Palin tweeted a new YouTube video for her political action committee. As has been the case with many of the videos uploaded by her account, commenting was disabled.
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