Pit bull Sarah Palin is again urging voters to question Barack Obama's patriotism and trustworthiness based on his connections to "radicals" like Bill Ayers and Rashid Khalidi, and convicted felon Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago developer and former Obama fundraiser. "I feel strongly about these associations, that it's fair game to discuss them," Palin told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an Oct. 23 interview.

If Palin is going to use past relationships to judge fitness to lead, then it's time she addressed her association with the convicted oilman who helped the Feds nail U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens earlier this week. Palin touts herself as a maverick, a reformer, somebody who's "going to shake things up in Washington." She says she's "walked the talk." So why did she split a bottle of wine with a corrupt oil contractor and then accept $5,000 in campaign contributions from him and his executives? (A Palin spokesman just said she "does not recall" sipping wine with Big Bill Allen, but our source stands by his story.)

Shortly after McCain picked Palin in late August, I wrote a story examining how Bill Allen and his employees at VECO Corp., an Alaska oil contractor now owned by a Denver-based firm, provided Palin 10 percent of all campaign contributions she received during her unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002. Last year, Allen pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers and has emerged a central figure in the biggest oil-political corruption scandal in state history. He testified as a federal witness against Stevens a few weeks ago, admitting that he picked up much of the costs on an expansive remodeling of the senator's house in 2000.

On Monday, a jury found Stevens, the longest-serving Senate Republican, guilty. Palin and McCain quickly called on Stevens to resign.

I learned about Palin and Allen about a year ago, when I was reporting on Allen's role in the Stevens' home renovation and interviewed a former VECO employee who had been involved in the project. The worker, who served as a federal witness in the Stevens investigation, told me then that he remembered Palin showing up alone at Allen's house in late summer or early fall 2001 and sharing a bottle of wine with the oilman. The former worker told me the story again earlier this week. He asked not to be identified because he remains a witness in the government's ongoing corruption investigation.

Taylor Griffin, a McCain-Palin spokesman in Anchorage, returned an email just after I posted this story Thursday. Palin "does not recall making a visit to Bill Allen's house. She vaguely recalls a fundraiser he was at," Griffin said in an email.

In response, the former VECO worker who fetched the bottle of wine for Palin and Allen said Thursday, "That's bullshit. She was there." The worker said Allen introduced her as Sarah Palin and she looked just like the governor.

Palin has not been accused of any wrongdoing by authorities, just as Obama has not been implicated in the Rezko investigation. But following her logic, should we consider her association with Bill Allen?

Several months after Palin sipped wine with Allen, she received $5,000 in campaign contributions for her 2002 bid for lieutenant governor. The contributions came at $500 a pop over a two-day period from Allen, his executives and one of their spouses, representing 10 percent of all money Palin raised in that campaign.

One could argue that Palin was no different than other Alaska politicians. Many accepted political contributions from Allen and VECO. Some of them include Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat running against Stevens; Ethan Berkowitz, also a Democrat who is trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Don Young; and Young himself, an entrenched Republican who benefited from big fund-raisers held at Allen's home over the years.