The customary political calm of the celebratory 4 July weekend was shattered by frenzied commentary over the surprise decision by Sarah Palin to stand down as governor of Alaska, which has left pundits intrigued, baffled and amazed.
Palin added to the speculation over the weekend, dropping a few further tantalising hints but falling far short of a definitive explanation. The most suggestive of those hints were made in an Independence Day post on Facebook where she alluded to a "higher calling" and said she was "now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together".
Those words will strengthen the camp that believes the resignation amounts to a first step in a bid for the White House, as opposed to those who interpret it as the beginning of the end of her political career. But, this being Palin, nothing is clear.
Palin's announcement on Friday that she would be quitting the governor's mansion in Juneau 18 months before the end of her first term gave few clues to her motives or intentions. She berated the hostile media, talked of protecting her family and dropped vague allusions to carving out a political role other than that of governor.
Leading figures on the Republican side yesterday characterised Palin's unconventional move as a risky strategy. Karl Rove, George Bush's key adviser for many years, said: "She marches to the beat of her own drum, and it's going to be very interesting to see how she pulls this off. It is not clear what her strategy here is by exiting the governorship 2½ years through the term and putting herself on the national stage that she may not yet be prepared to operate in."
Mike Huckabee, a presidential candidate last year who may run again in 2012, speaking with Rove on Fox News, said: "It's a risky strategy, and nobody knows whether it's going to pay off or not."
The holes in Palin's explanation inevitably prompted a storm of blogger conspiracy theorising. Leftwing bloggers revived allegations circulated at the time of the presidential election that she was facing a federal investigation over financial irregularities concerning the building of a sports complex in her home town of Wasilla when she was mayor.
In a sign perhaps of a more aggressive stance to come, Palin launched a spirited rebuttal. Her lawyer released a four-page letter threatening legal action against anyone who persisted with the "canard".
In her Facebook comments, posted on Saturday, Palin also lambasted the response of the media, which she wrote had been "predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the 'politics of personal destruction'".
The undisguised anger in her message suggests hostile media coverage as one obvious factor behind the resignation. Since she was plucked out of relative political obscurity to be John McCain's running mate last August she has faced bruising and relentless media scrutiny, beginning with the notorious Katie Couric TV interviews and running right up to last week's lacerating profile by Todd Purdum in Vanity Fair.
Her controversial turn on the national stage last year damaged her standing among local politicians and she has been under almost continuous attack since her return. She faced 15 complaints within the state assembly alleging ethical wrongdoing, which have cost her $500,000 in legal fees and soaked up much of her time.
Those legal fees provide another possible explanation. She has signed with HarperCollins to write a memoir, but may need to top up that unknown advance with the lucrative income she could expect to command on the national speakers' circuit.
But beyond all those factors, an undoubted hint is left hanging in the air that she intends to use her new-found freedom to focus on building a national political voice with an eye on 2012.