July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Sarah Palin’s decision to quit as Alaska governor makes her the third Republican in less than three weeks who may have derailed a promising political career, adding to the woes of a party struggling to redeem itself with voters.

Palin’s surprise announcement that she will leave the governorship later this month presents an entirely different situation than the two other Republicans, U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. They both admitted extramarital affairs and remain in office although their political futures are tarnished.

Even so, Palin’s decision to resign “just leaves you weaker,” said Eddie Mahe, a Republican strategist who said the party needs to find new political stars. “The hope has to be that there’s some folks out there somewhere who are contemplating getting involved in public life.”

Palin, 45, was Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate when he lost to Democrat Barack Obama last year. Two years earlier, the Republicans lost their majorities in both houses of Congress following a series of congressional lobbying scandals. Republicans also were hurt by the unpopularity of former President George W. Bush.

Palin ran for vice president in 2008 as a fresh alternative for her party, and her supporters say it’s too soon to rule out a political future for her.

‘Premature’

“It is totally premature to interpret Sarah Palin’s announcement as a withdrawal from American politics,” Gary Bauer, president of Washington-based American Values, which opposes abortion and gay marriage, said in a statement. “A year from now, a lot of pundits may be eating their words.”

Vin Weber, a former Republican House member from Minnesota, disagreed, saying on July 3, “A very promising political career appears to me to have crumbled.”

Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, today called Palin’s resignation decision “astounding.”

“I would think, if you want to run for president -- and I’m not sure that’s got anything to do with what she’s doing -- that the forum of a governorship would be a better forum than just being a private citizen,” he said on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”

‘Achieve Greatness’

Palin posted a statement on Facebook yesterday that the Associated Press said was confirmed by her spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton. Palin promised to keep working to “help our nation achieve greatness.” She said other government officials weren’t criticized for leaving for a “higher calling,” though “for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make.”

Regarding the Republican Party’s future, former McCain adviser John Weaver said the party has failed to adapt to changing demographics and hasn’t come up “with a message that resonates with people beyond our core base.”

“We’ve entered into a rudderless period” with no clear leader, Weaver said.

Tom Davis, a Republican and former Representative from Virginia, said the possible loss of Palin, Ensign and Sanford as national candidates may help “because you’ve got more substantive leaders who can step forward.”

Palin refused to take questions in Alaska on July 3 when she announced her plan to resign. She didn’t say whether she would pursue a presidential campaign or whether her decision was related to ethics complaints that dogged her tenure as governor.

Ethics Complaints

She said last month that more than 15 ethics complaints had been dismissed, and she has said defending against them cost more than $500,000 in legal bills.

Alaska Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell, who will assume the top job when Palin steps aside, said today she indicated to him the complaints were a major factor in her decision.

“What I heard from the governor really had to do with the weight on her, the concern she had for the cost of all the ethics investigations and the like, the way that that weighed on her with respect to her inability to just move forward Alaska’s agenda on behalf of Alaskans,” Parnell said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Yesterday her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein in Anchorage, denied in a statement what he called “false and defamatory” claims that she is resigning because she is under criminal investigation related to the construction of a sports complex in her hometown of Wasilla.

‘Not Aware’

“We are not aware of any ‘federal investigation’ that has been ‘pending’ for the last seven years,” Van Flein wrote.

If Palin’s decision were ultimately linked to an ethics issue it “would be pretty devastating to Republicans given that scandal has already taken down two prominent Republicans,” said Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs professor at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Like Palin, Ensign and Sanford had been viewed as potential presidential candidates for 2012.

Sanford, who unsuccessfully fought his own party to reject about $700 million in federal stimulus money, now faces calls from party leaders to step down.

He admitted on June 24 after a week’s absence from the state that he was in Argentina seeing a woman with whom he carried on a yearlong affair. He also quit as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Ensign resigned as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee on June 17, the day after he revealed his affair with a former campaign aide.

Edwards, Clinton

Marital infidelity is not unique to Republicans; former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards of North Carolina admitted an affair and former President Bill Clinton was impeached after an affair with a White House intern.

Still, revelations of adultery tend to hit social conservatives such as Ensign and Sanford harder, said Davis.

“The hypocrisy gap is so huge in those cases,” said Davis, among a group of Republicans who has criticized the party’s move further to the political right.

“The party’s got to re-center itself to appeal nationally, not to win Alabama but to win nationally,” said Davis.

Bauer rejected that argument, saying, “No Republican can get the GOP nomination for president or win the White House without the values wing of the party.”

“I have no doubt that between now and 2012 a leader will emerge,” wrote Bauer.

To contact the reporters on this story: Christopher Stern in Washington at cstern3@bloomberg.net; Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 5, 2009 12:23 EDT