I thought I would let the dust settle a bit, before throwing my 2 cents in. 

I have no doubt that this is a move to accomplish two major goals - The first is to get her family out of the line of fire.

As long as she is an elected politician, the hatemongers in the media and on the left will consider her family open season.

As a private citizen, this will much more difficult for them to both rationalize, and get away with, in the public eye.

The second, is to begin “Re-Branding” herself.  Far from leaving public life, I feel sure that she will use the time between now, and the 2010 mid-term elections, to stump for candidates, and gain herself more exposure to the party base.  I have no doubt that she will also take advantage of the “lecture circuit” money train, to pay off her legal fees from the frivolous ethics complaints that she has been exonerated of.

I do NOT believe she is planning to run for President in 2012, but I have little doubt that she will be tapped to do a lot of outreach, and stumping for the candidate.

In return, you can be sure she will be rewarded with a Cabinet position, like Energy or Interior - both of which will take on increased visibility in the next few years, and provide a wonderful platform for a pro-environment, pro-development (they are NOT exclusive of each other) politician.