Alaskans Consider Palin's Legacy As She Prepares to Leave Office

Persily, now a legislative aide to Republican state Rep. Mike Hawker, said that both supporters and critics thought that "when she returned, she'd govern. She started losing the state when she didn't do that."

Within minutes of McCain's concession, political experts advised Palin that if she hoped to turn herself into a viable presidential candidate, she needed to demonstrate in Alaska that she could successfully tackle difficult issues.

Some Alaskans think she tried but was thwarted at every turn.

"They were threatened by her. They fought her. It was hard for her to come back and get more done," said Wasilla resident Tom Jensen, who became a Palin fan years ago, in part because she greets him at the gas station and local dump "like a regular person," he said.

But lawmakers said Palin was different when she came back to the statehouse. Her approval rating dipped from 80 percent during her first two years as governor to 54 percent.

Her maverick image, which caught on nationally during the presidential race, suddenly came across as more erratic. The governor who carefully calculated her media coverage and always "stayed on message" with issues such as ethics reform and oil and gas issues seemed obsessed by the national spotlight at any cost, critics said they thought.

Gara cited what he called the "Thanksgiving Turkey Massacre," a widely viewed event in which Palin pardoned a turkey, a tradition she created for Alaskans. She made the announcement from a turkey farm while, in the background, a worker continued to slaughter a bird.

"She had no message that day. The result was a turkey spurting blood in the background," he said. "Her zeal for getting on television just took over."

After a rocky ending to the legislative session, Palin recently tried to turn Alaskans' attention to more positive aspects of her record. In March, she said she had succeeded in reducing the amount of federal funds the state receives each year for special projects.

"I am proud of the fact that we slashed the number of earmark requests by nearly 85 percent, and we're not done," she said.

There were no big policy victories during her final months, however. Lawmakers, who asked not to be quoted because they fear retribution, said that Palin recently seemed to lose focus and seemed consumed by making television appearances.

"I think her legacy is going to be as the biggest celebrity in the history of Alaska -- ever," said Mike Carey, a resident historian of Alaska and a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News. "She will be known as someone who went to the national level, became celebrated and then came back here and threw away her opportunity to establish a legacy."

If Palin hopes to run for president in 2012, her tenure as governor will have to be explained, political experts say.

In some cases, they said, governors and members of Congress have declined a second term and rebuilt their images outside the confines of public office.

But experts say that quitting midstream is a risky strategy for someone with higher political aspirations. "How in the world do you ask the people of the United States to hire you for a job when you quit your last one?" "Politics is a tough business, and people are going to say horrible things about you. Think of Winston Churchill. Think of George Washington. Did he turn around halfway across the Delaware because there was too much ice? I don't think so."

Research editors Lucy Shackelford and Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report.