Alaskan leaders say they weren’t contacted : National : The Buffalo News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — John McCain’s presidential campaign did not talk with the Alaska House speaker and other leading Republicans before McCain tapped Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

The low-profile vetting allowed McCain to spring Palin onto the national scene uncolored by media scrutiny. But it has left the campaign open to criticism that McCain did not fully explore her qualifications.

“I haven’t heard of anybody being contacted, not that that’s bad,” said John Harris, speaker of the state House of Representatives. “I just haven’t heard of anybody.”

State Senate President Lyda Green and GOP chairman Randy Ruedrich said no one called them in advance to talk about the governor.

“I’ve not heard of one person who was talked to,” said Green, who lives in Palin’s hometown of Wasilla and has feuded with the governor.

Palin also has had a rocky relationship with Ruedrich, whom she tried to oust as party chairman.

The subject is now closed, said McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Gov. Palin was fully vetted as previously described, and we are no longer commenting on the vetting process,” Bounds said. “She was selected, is qualified and is ready to serve.”

Attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., who led the review, told the Associated Press that Palin underwent a “full and complete” examination.

Culvahouse said Palin’s review, like others, began with two dozen people sifting through information from public sources: speeches, financial records, tax information, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces.

The team also studied online archives of the state’s largest newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News.

Palin answered a personal data questionnaire with 70 “very intrusive” questions, Culvahouse said, and was asked to submit years of tax returns. Culvahouse conducted a lengthy interview.