The announcement that US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin abused her power as governor of Alaska by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper couldn't have come at a worse time for her.

Although to listen to the spin the Republican party put this weekend on the ethics inquiry's finding, observers could almost believe that Palin didn't use her office for personal gain and is being hounded by politically motivated manoeuvring in the final weeks before the 4 November vote.

It's an irony indeed that as McCain and Palin have been resorting to questionable tactics to try to prevent GOP slippage, a real ethics dilemma has emerged that makes a lie of the contention that a vote for them is a vote for reform. Palin's intervention flies in the face of her promise that she can cleanly cut to the heart and get things done without fear or favour. In her last job, she did exactly the opposite and used her official clout for private gain.

It appears that the closer the inspection of the vice-presidential candidate, the more questions emerge about her suitability for office. She can certainly dish the dirt, but scrutiny of her words and her record prompts one overriding question: Who is the real Sarah Palin?