But an article in today’s New York Times describes that Palin neglected Alaska’s cities and mayors when she became governor:

Mayors across the state, from the larger cities to tiny municipalities along the southeastern fiords, are even more frustrated. Often, their letters go unanswered and their pleas ignored, records and interviews show.

Last summer, Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, a Democrat, pressed Ms. Palin to meet with him because the state had failed to deliver money needed to operate city traffic lights. At one point, records show, state officials told him to just turn off a dozen of them. Ms. Palin agreed to meet with Mr. Begich when he threatened to go public with his anger, according to city officials.

At an Alaska Municipal League gathering in Juneau in January, mayors across the political spectrum swapped stories of the governor’s remoteness. How many of you, someone asked, have tried to meet with her? Every hand went up, recalled Mayor Fred Shields of Haines Borough. And how many met with her? Just a few hands rose. Ms. Palin soon walked in, delivered a few remarks and left for an anti-abortion rally.

The McCain-Palin camp has been all but silent on urban issues throughout the campaign. But Palin’s neglect of her state’s mayors is worse: it suggests that a McCain administration would not take seriously the critical importance of urban areas to our nation’s economic, social, and cultural life.

Senator Obama, in contrast, has pledged to create a White House Director of Urban Policy who would be an advocate for cities, reporting directly to the president.