Who's Smiling and Who's Frowning About the Palin News

Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, on election night last year. She may be aiming for more time on the national stage. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)

By Chris Cillizza
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign at the end of this month is one of the most surprising, perplexing and just plain fascinating moves from a national politician in recent memory.

As such, it produces any number of consequences -- intended and otherwise -- in the political world. (Like it or not, Palin is a prime mover on the national scene; she acts and others react.)

In the wake of Palin's announcement Friday, the Fix reached out to a handful of senior-level strategists in both parties for their assessment of who won and, more deliciously, who lost as a result of the Palin bombshell.


Winners

Mark Sanford: Just when it looked as if the South Carolina governor was headed -- whether he liked it or not -- toward a resignation announcement, a fellow Republican chief executive swooped in and diverted the attention of every political reporter in the country. Timing is everything in politics, and Sanford benefited from a very fortunate bit of it. Can he survive? Perhaps -- unless he decides to conduct another confessional interview with a news outlet.

Mitt Romney: The Republican Party establishment worries openly about the prospect of a matchup between Palin and President Obama, believing that such a showdown would result in a reelection landslide for the Democrat. That fear could well rally institutional support behind the former Massachusetts governor, who, despite what he says, is running for the nomination in 2012.

Don Young: The ascension of Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell to the governorship removes a potential primary challenger to the embattled Republican House member. Young defeated Parnell by 152 votes in the 2008 GOP primary, and Parnell was considering another run. With Parnell now ensconced as governor, Young is likely to face an easier path to reelection, despite the constant swirl of ethics trouble around him.

Fred Malek: Malek, a major player in Republican money circles, has emerged as Palin's most prominent supporter and defender in recent weeks. Malek has also been working with the soon-to-be-former Alaska governor to introduce her to the smart set in Washington; he recently organized a foreign-policy-themed lunch at Palin's request in which the guests included former secretary of defense Frank Carlucci and former deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott.