Many see Palin resignation as poor move

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 3 (UPI) -- Republicans inside and outside Alaska suggested Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation is a poor move if she wants to run for president.

Whit Ayers, a Republican pollster, said the decision confirms her image as a "lightweight," the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported.

"If you're a serous politician and you're seriously interested in higher office, the best thing you can do is as good a job as possible in the current office," Ayers said.

Palin announced her plans to resign at a news conference thrown together at her home in Wasilla, outside Anchorage. She gave an 18-minute speech justifying her decision with political and personal reasons and did not take questions, suggesting a lame-duck governor could not serve the people of Alaska.

State Rep. Mike Hawker, an Anchorage Republican who has been a Palin foe, was not impressed.

"That isn't a reason. Seated governors just don't resign in the last year of their term no matter how successful or for that matter unsuccessful they've been," he said. "Right now there are a lot more questions than answers. And until the governor chooses to reveal more of her motive here, it's just one of those questions we will never know the answer to."

Republican National Chairman Michael Steele called Palin "an important and galvanizing voice" in the party. He said she could help candidates this fall in New Jersey and Virginia, The Washington Post reported.

John Weaver, a longtime friend of Sen. John McCain -- who chose Palin as his running mate on the GOP presidential ticket in 2008 -- told the Post there has been a lot of "nutty behavior" from Republicans recently but Palin has topped them.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, widely regarded as a contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, issued a statement Friday saying he wished Palin and her family well "and I know that she will continue to be a strong voice in the Republican Party," Politico reported.