ALASKA LEGISLATORS were meeting yesterday to consider a report on allegations that Republican running mate Sarah Palin abused her position as governor by firing the state's public safety commissioner because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law from the state police force.
A legislative committee was expected to release the 300-page report later yesterday but John McCain's campaign pre-empted the legislators by publishing its own version of the firing.
The campaign claimed that Mrs Palin fired the commissioner, Walter Monegan, over an administrative matter that had nothing to do with her family's dispute with the state trooper, Mike Wooten. It said legislators had taken a legitimate policy dispute between a governor and one of her commissioners, and portrayed it as something inappropriate.
"The following document will prove Walt Monegan's dismissal was a result of his insubordination and budgetary clashes with Governor Palin and her administration," the campaign wrote. "Trooper Wooten is a separate issue."
The governor's husband, Todd Palin, admitted to investigators that he had spoken repeatedly to state officials about Mr Wooten, accusing the trooper of abusing and threatening his family. Mr Palin insisted, however, that his wife played no role in his campaign against the trooper and he denied putting pressure on officials.
Mr Monegan said he was looking forward to the legislators' report, which he expected to support his version of the dispute with Mrs Palin.
"I just hope that the truth is figured out," he said. "That the governor did want me to fire him, and I chose to not. You just can't walk up to someone and say, 'I fire you.' He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."
Barack Obama yesterday accused Mr McCain of trying to divide the country by attacks such as those over the Democrat's association with former urban guerrilla William Ayers.
Campaigning in Ohio, Mr Obama said his opponent was using negative ads in an attempt to distract voters from the economy, which has become the central issue of the election.
"They can try to 'turn the page' on the economy and deny the record of the last eight years.
"They can run misleading ads and pursue the politics of anything goes. But it's not going to work. Not this time," he said.
"I think that folks are looking for something different. It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country - they're looking for someone who will lead it."
Earlier, Ohio governor Ted Strickland told the crowd that neither gun owners nor people who revere "family and faith" had anything to fear from an Obama presidency. "The McCain-Palin campaign and some of their followers unfortunately want you to be afraid of Barack Obama," Mr Strickland said.
The McCain campaign yesterday released a new ad about Mr Obama's association with Mr Ayers and in Wisconsin the Republican returned to the attack on his opponent's character.
"Rather than answer his critics, Senator Obama will try to distract you from noticing that he never answers the serious and legitimate questions he has been asked. He has even questioned my truthfulness," Mr McCain said.
Mr Obama is leading by more than six points nationally and he is ahead in almost all the battleground states, including traditional Republican strongholds like Virginia and North Carolina.
