New investment, he said, depends on the perception of the business climate in Alaska.

Despite Palin's pronouncements on progress for a proposed multibillion dollar natural gas pipeline, he said, Palin has been "gaming" the process. Her administration turned a business negotiation into a bureaucratic request for proposals.

A real leader, he said, would bring together current and future natural gas producers, pipeline operators, right-of-way owners, affected communities, state and federal regulators, financial markets and Canadian representatives for negotiations in a businesslike manner, not a political manner.

"Alaska is no further along with the gas pipeline that we were even three years ago," he said. "We will not succeed if we continue this administration's policy of divide and conquer."

McAllister rejected Poe's criticism that Palin's absences have hurt the state. Other governors, including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, ran for national office while running their states. Since the election, Palin has been out of the state for five days and she's devoted less than one day to political activity despite numerous requests, McAllister said.

As for the natural gas pipeline process, McAllister said, Palin in 2006 campaigned in response to a plan by former Gov. Frank Murkowski that would have sacrificed state sovereignty and committed the state to a fixed tax rate for decades.

Palin's plan set terms for a project and let companies meet them. The process that followed was approved by the Alaska legislature in 2007, with a contract debated, approved and awarded with legislative review last year.

McAllister wondered if Poe wanted a return to closed negotiations and giveaways.