Matalin resigns from VP's office

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Communications strategist Mary Matalin, the top public relations aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and the wife of Democratic campaign strategist James Carville, has resigned effective Dec. 31, the White House said Friday.

Matalin, a veteran of the administration of President George H.W. Bush, will be succeeded by her deputy, Cathie Martin.

"We're all going to miss her and miss her a lot," Spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "(But) I think she'll stay very close."

The Vice President's office said Matalin resigned to spend more time with her family. Matalin and Carville, better known during the Clinton administration as the "Ragin' Cajun," have two girls.

"She said she wouldn't sign up for life," Fleischer said.