Fred Malek: Sarah Palin is making a difference

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We found an interesting profile of Fred Malek by Samuel P. Jacobs at The Daily Beast, of all places. Here are some highlights:

Malek, who served as the national finance chair for John McCain's presidential campaign, is guarded about his role in the Palin circle. He's been called Palin's "leading defender" by The Washington Post, an "ally" by Congressional Quarterly. The New York Times describes him as a member of Palin's "kitchen cabinet." Palin herself, in her memoir, acknowledges Malek as someone "who deserve[s] credit for inspiring the fight to continue."

When asked this week if he's advising her now, Malek demurred. "I don't know if she would view me as her adviser," Malek said on the phone Wednesday from his home in snowy McLean, Virginia. "We are friends."

[...]

Will Palin run in 2012?

"I think you have to take her at her word. She has said that she would be crazy to rule anything out," Malek says.

And she's comfortable keeping her circle of advisers, counselors and "friends" a small one.

"She doesn't need a very large group of people around her," Malek says. "I don't believe she feels the need for a lot of staff support. She is doing pretty well. Who is doing any better than she is?"

[...]

The White House still obviously has Palin on the brain...

"The key spokesman of the President of the United States does not respond to someone who is not making a difference," Malek says. "They obviously think she is making a difference."

The unabridged original is here.

- JP