WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: Sarah Palin “Her moment long passed”

Some  Republican voters  living in Panama, are  breathing a sigh of relief at the news that Sarah Palin has announced she will not run for president,

She said:"When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country," she said. "My decision maintains this order."

She later added: "We'll see what the future holds, in terms of me and my political career.”

The First Post did a snapshot review of comments from other publications although the news was largely overshadowed by the death of  Apple founder,  Steve Jobs.

Says the First Post: Republican Party poster girl Sarah Palin has finally ended speculation by announcing she will not be running for the presidency in 2012, citing family reasons. Some say she was afraid she might have won.

A Palin run for the presidency would have had "significant roadblocks", says Reid Epstein on Politico.com. She was unprepared for a campaign, and a recent poll found two-thirds of Republicans didn’t want her to run.

There remains chatter that she could run as an independent hopeful, "a possibility that would let her continue to stoke speculation about her future heading into the spring and keep her relevant in the conversation".

It’s no surprise that Sarah Palin has pulled out of the race, says Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. Why risk her reputation and her livelihood by finishing in the middle or even the bottom of the pack?

It’s not clear how influential Palin will remain in the Republican Party or the conservative movement more generally. "But one senses her moment has long passed".

Many have ceased caring, blogs Richard Adams for The Guardian.

“FoxNewsmay have thought her announcement was more significant than the death of Steve Jobs, but everyone else reacted with a quick shrug and moved on."

Well, critics might say she didn't run because she knew she would lose, says L.Z. Granderson for CNN."I say she didn't run because of the chance she would win."

She is rich, famous and has no one to answer to. Why would she swap that for a job that is poorly paid for the work it involves, asks Granderson, and where every decision is scrutinised? Palin’s smart enough to know "it's a whole lot easier flirting with running for president of the United States than it is being president of the United States".