‘Politically speaking, if I die, I die, so be it,’ says Palin

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vehemently defended her decision to resign 16 months early, declaring she doesn’t care if it damages her political future.

“I said before I stood in front of the mic the other day, you know, politically speaking -- if I die, I die. So be it," Palin said in an interview broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Tuesday.

Palin did a round of morning show interviews during a family fishing trip in Dillingham, a small village in western Alaska, three days after stunning the political world with her decision to step down at the end of the month.

According to the New York Daily News, Palin refused to rule out the possibility of running for president in 2012.

“I don’t know what the future holds. Can’t predict what the next fish run’s going to be look like, much less what’s going to happen in a couple of years,” she said.

“My focus is on my state still -- it always will be ?"- and my family and what is best for them. What is best for them is to not run for reelection, to avoid a lame-duck kind of wasteful session in a final year in office,” she added.

Palin, 45, said she has no regrets about accepting Sen. John McCain’s offer to join him as his running mate last year.
“Not in the least. Absolutely not!” she said. “It was a great honor to stand by a true American hero. I believe in John McCain. I appreciate him. I honor him and I would have done all this again in a heartbeat.”

As for her abrupt decision to resign, Palin said she did not think it would be “such a darn big deal.”