Some in GOP call Palin’s resignation ‘risky’

Then again, the pair said, Palin has never been a conventional candidate and her stunning announcement on Friday is what they have come to expect from the Republicans’ 2008 vice presidential candidate.

Even her rival during the last election seemed confused by the move.

“It maybe had a lot to do with what the state of their life was and the state of their family, et cetera,’’ Vice President Joe Biden said. “So I’m not going to second-guess her.’’

Senator John McCain of Arizona plucked Palin from near-obscurity to be his running mate last year. The folksy governor remains a potent figure in GOP politics, although her resignation, effective July 26, could make a potential 2012 campaign even more dicey.

Huckabee, who ran for president in 2008 and could try again, said her announcement raised more questions than it answered. He said he remains a Palin fan and insisted she continues to be a viable candidate.

But her reason for resigning, that she was dogged by critics who cost her state millions in legal fees, will be a liability for her if she seeks the White House, Huckabee said. But if she’s looking to be a national political figure, it’s not going to get easier, he said.

Biden predicts more jobs because of stimulus money

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration “misread’’ the depth of the economic troubles it inherited and still expects more new jobs in the long term as the spending pace from the $787 billion stimulus plan quickens, Vice President Joe Biden said.

Republican congressional leaders expressed disappointment about the impact of stimulus spending. “I’m very skeptical that the spending binge that we’re on is going to produce much good and, even if it does, anytime soon,’’ Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement yesterday. “I think the economy is just as likely to begin to recover on its own, wholly aside from this, before much of this has an impact.’’

Biden, in an interview that aired on ABC’s “This Week,’’ said the 9.5 percent unemployment rate is “much too high.’’ The administration had predicted unemployment would stay below 8 percent with its stimulus plan.

“The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there,’’ Biden said. “We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package.’’

He cited the economic conditions inherited from the Bush administration. “It’s now our responsibility. So the second question becomes . . . is it the right package given the circumstances we’re in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we’re in.’’

While Biden argued that more jobs will be created, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said the GOP had wanted the bill to focus on small businesses and helping people keep more of what they earned.

“This was supposed to be about jobs, jobs, and jobs. And the fact is it turned into nothing more than spending, spending, and more spending on a lot of big government bureaucracy,’’ Boehner said.