'strategist' is just a label, it isn't an official title which has to meet any particular standard which you are defining on the fly here

similarly, you are setting up an arbitrary standard for 'the party' - i'm not the one making the claim that she has to be directly associated with the RNC in order to qualify as a republican strategist, because that is ridiculous

the point is that saying that sarah palin's actions are not an aspect of overall republican strategy is totally divorced from reality

just ask yourself: is sarah palin a republican? is sarah palin acting for republican interests? is she doing so, perhaps, strategically?

hooray she is a republican strategist

the opening premise was only that "they're both media consultants with loose party ties, lacking official connection" - as far as we can tell, rosen is not officially connected to the DNC, palin is not officially connected to the RNC, both are media consultants with obvious partisan preference

so what's the problem