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

Sarah Palin's attorney sets MSNBC straight

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Sarah Palin's attorney Tom Van Flein has responded to an MSNBC.com story which was headlined "Palin e-mails reveal a powerful 'first dude.'" Van Flein reiterated that the story reveals nothing new, that it was fairly common knowledge in Alaska that Todd Palin was a close advisor to his wife, and that there is nothing wrong about a spouse of a chief executive acting in the role of an advisor. Here is his e-mail to the network:

A recent article discusses what purports to be a new "revelation" that Todd Palin was a "powerful first dude." To most Alaskans, and to the millions of people who read "Going Rogue" this is neither new nor a revelation. Like many married couples, including political 'power couples,' it is common for a spouse to play the role of key advisor to the other spouse. The Palins were no different. Todd Palin had official and unofficial duties, but one thing was clear: he was a key advisor to Governor Palin and involved in her efforts to improve the State of Alaska. Officially, in addition to the duties traditionally expected of the spouse of the Governor, Todd Palin was put in charge of a Workforce Development commission with the goal of increasing vocational education opportunities and awareness. But unlike some spouses of elected officials, Todd Palin did not travel with an entourage, had no designated office, had no title other than "First Dude", received no pay, and had no staff. He donated his time to the people of Alaska by assisting the Governor. Each spouse of the chief executive is free to define his or her own role. From the policy oriented Hillary Clinton, to the more traditional and charitable work of Laura Bush, to the combined policy/traditionalist role of Michelle Obama, the first spouse takes on the duties within their interests and within the context of their marriage to the chief executive. Todd was no different.

What is interesting is that the same media outlet that today breathlessly reports how close the Palins were while Sarah Palin was Governor--too close for at least one reporter--earlier reported that the Palins were not close enough and headed for divorce. Consistency is not necessarily a hallmark for investigative journalists, but certainly truth should be. Let's look at the most serious accusation made. The article posits that Todd Palin "passed financial information marked 'confidential' from his oil company employer to a state attorney." The author clearly implies that Todd Palin, who was not a member of the British Petroleum management team, obtained secret "financial" information and surreptitiously gave it to a State assistant attorney general. The true facts are as follows: Todd Palin received an email from a third party (an email that was apparently making the rounds in Alaska) and he forwarded that to a state attorney on August 29, 2007. But the information in the email itself was dated February 19, 2004--three and half years earlier--and the information addressed safety performance for 2003 and overall productivity. Of course, as a highly regulated producer in Alaska, this is largely the same information provided to state regulatory agencies, taxing authorities, and even publicly disclosed to its shareholders. See BP Annual Report and Accounts 2003 & Annual Report and Accounts & Annual Review 2008.

The latter part of the email referred to performance data for 2005 again analyzing production, costs and safety. So there are two distinct errors in the article: (1) the email itself was circulating in Alaska and was simply forwarded to Todd by a third party, it was not an email that was sent by BP to Todd Palin wherein he was told it was "confidential" and (2) the type of information within the email was years old and all, if not most, was a matter of public record under the tight regulatory strictures BP operates under and its release of data to shareholders, securities regulators, the department of Revenue, and the state oil and gas commission, among others.

The bottom line is that this story reveals nothing new. Todd Palin was, and remains, a close advisor to the Governor. Those in the administration knew this, and the public knew this. There is nothing unusual, untoward or inappropriate for a spouse of a chief executive to provide guidance, input and hands on assistance.

- JP

Sarah Palin begins to build her network of advisors

Politico's Ben Smith reports:

Randy Scheunemann, has emerged as an advisor to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as she attempts to build a serious public profile and begins to build a network of aides and advisors typical of a national politician.

Scheunemann confirmed this evening that he's with Palin in Hong Kong, where she is delivering a paid speech at a conference hosted by the brokerage house CLSA, which has in the past heard keynotes from Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Rich Lowry recounts how the McCain campaign eventually split over their vice presidential candidate, with the communications team mostly dissing Palin, while Steve Biegun, Randy Scheunemann and other policy advisors supported her. Scheunemann was one of Sarah Palin's staunchest defenders within the McCain camp, and he nearly lost his job because of it:

Steve Schmidt has told people [Randy Scheunemann] was fired the last week of the campaign; Scheunemann says he wasn't fired; others say Schmidt tried to fire him (at one point cutting off his e-mail) but was over-ruled by [campaign manager Rick] Davis. (Scheunemann's offense was writing an email to Bill Kristol defending Palin and criticizing the handling of her.)

Also helping out with former Governor Palin's Hong Kong speech, according to Smith, were Dan Blumenthal and Kim Daniels.

Blumenthal is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he has worked on the national security implications of U.S.-Sino relations and coordinates the Tocqueville on China project, which examines the underlying civic culture of post-Mao China. Blumentahl has also served as commissioner and former vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, where he directed efforts to monitor, investigate, and provide recommendations on the national security implications of the economic relationship between the two countries. He had previously held the position of senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Secretary of Defense's Office of International Security Affairs.

Daniels, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center in Washington, penned an excellent op-ed for NRO in 2003 presenting the case for confirming Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Court of Appeals, but the Democrats would not allow a conservative and well-qualified Hispanic such as Estrada to be seated on the court. Apparently, wise Latinas and Latinos are acceptable only if they steer to  the port side of the ship of state.

- JP