An overly ambitious Alaska woman who loves both herself and power in equal measure decided today to abandon the people who had put her into elective office, as their petty concerns were interfering with her plans to run for the White House in 2012.

Sarah Palin, 45, of Wasilla, Alaska, told reporters in a news conference today she would resign as governor of Alaska by month’s end. “We know we can effect positive change outside of government,” she said, although it was not immediately clear why she was using the plural tense.

But as blogger and Various Things & Stuff-ignorer Chris Cilizza of the Washington Post has noted, not being governor would make it easier for Palin to run for president.

Sure, Palin promised “faithfully discharge my duties as governor to the best of my ability.” Sure, she knew the term of office when she was last elected. And sure, waiting until next year (when her term would be up, a full two years before the presidential election of 2012) wouldn’t have hurt her chances much. But what is your word when placed up against your soul-inflaming quest for power? You do realize that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is robotically campaigning right now, don’t you? And that Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota decided not to run for re-election, so he could concentrate on a presidential bid, right?

In a way, what Romney and Pawlenty have done — give up elected office before seeking a higher office — is an honorable thing, since they know their attention would be divided between their full-time current job and the job they actually want. Palin could have joined them in the honorable camp, had she served out her current term and left office next year.

Alas, she decided to up and quit right now, as if to cement her reputation as somebody whose word you really shouldn’t trust. In other words, what a great way to kick off a presidential run! You betcha! (Wink.)

Oh, by the way, if you haven’t read this piece by Todd Purdum, it’s pretty good. Seriously, Palin writes e-mails from God. Not even joking.