WaPo reports: Leaks About Foes Seen as Routine in Campaigns

On Monday morning, Sen. John F. Kerry was confronted with a 1971 videotape that appeared to contradict his past accounts of whether he had thrown away his military medals as a Vietnam War protest.

[…]

copies of the tape were provided to two news organizations by the Republican National Committee, according to several media staff members familiar with the situation who, not surprisingly, said they could not be identified while discussing confidential sources.

Jim Dyke, the RNC’s communications director, said he could not “discuss what information we discuss with reporters” and added: “It is interesting that John Kerry, confronted with his own words, blamed the RNC. Where the tape came from, the place to start would be the National Archives.”

Not surprising, and validates Kerry and McAuliffe’s citation of the RNC as at least partially responsible for the medals flap. Nor am I surprised. However, it is still over the top for the Kerry camp to forget that the actual grilling came from ABC and, more significantly, the problem was not created by the RNC, it was created by Kerry’s own words over time.