Palin Returns to Alaska Amid Criticism From Disgruntled Mccain Aides

Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska after her whirlwind 68-day exposure to America's national political scene, but the controversy over her vice-presidential candidacy shows no sign of abating.

As the state governor stepped off a plane in icy Anchorage on Wednesday, she faced fresh allegations over her behavior on the campaign trail and renewed attacks on her lack of readiness for the White House. Many of the attacks were from disgruntled aides within John McCain's campaign.

The most piercing allegations concerned Palin's ignorance of foreign affairs - which were depicted to be even more extreme than already thought - and the amount she spent kitting out herself and her family with a TV-friendly wardrobe.

Fox News, a channel that had been generally flattering in its coverage of the "Palin phenomenon", reported that aides were astonished when they learned she was unaware that Africa was not a country but a whole continent. She was also said to be unable to name the countries that belong to the North American Free Trade Agreement: the US, Mexico and Canada.

Unnamed McCain advisers, their ire no longer constrained by campaign discipline, complained that the Alaskan governor had been uncooperative with them. The New York Times reported that the McCain circle was angry about her decision to talk directly to someone she thought was French president Nicolas Sarkozy, but was in fact a Canadian radio DJ playing a prank.

The most colorful new information concerned Palin's spending spree on the campaign trail. Newsweek reported that she ended up spending far more than the $150,000 (£93,000) that was already known about, with up to $40,000 being lavished on her husband, Todd.

A wealthy donor who had offered to pay was shocked, Newsweek said, when he got the bill from the high-end retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. One McCain aide characterized the episode to the magazine as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast".

Palin refused to address the accusations. She said: "If they're an unnamed source, that says it all. I won't comment on anyone's gossip based on anonymous sources. That's kind of a small, of a bitter type of person who anonymously would charge that I didn't know an answer to a question. So until I know who's talking about it, I won't have a comment on a false allegation."