Frankly, if there was no “there” there, do you really think that an “ethics adviser” would go out of his way to warn her that what she had done warranted an apology?

Absolutely. No question about it. 1000 times yes! Clearly this is advice about managing public opinion. And the evidence is right there in the text you quoted, where he says “over-reaching or perceived over-reaching.” This implicitly implied that people’s perceptions are what is important, as opposed to the actual facts.

I wonder what folks out there think of the supposition that a person in power ought not to fire their crooked soon_to-be-ex brother-in-law, even if he deserves it, because it might make them look bad.

What would we think of Palin if, instead of firing this guy, she let him stay on, and then we found out that she chose NOT to fire him specifically because she was afraid of how it would make her look. REALLY think about that one. If that were the current story, she’d be getting excoriated for the exact opposite action, which would be offensive because it showed a lack of courage in the face of political opinion.