Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, had a minor accident in her 2005 Mustang the other night. She was near the Capital Campus and hit a small sign on a traffic median. The Olympian has a brief story and says Keiser didn't report the incident contacted by the paper.

How'd the paper get the story? Watching Keiser pick up the sign, and her license plate that had been knocked loose, was someone with a connection to the Washington State Republican Party. Party spokesman Josh Kahn said he heard about the incident Tuesday from a witness and he passed the tip on to The Olympian. The party also took photographs of Keiser's front bumper while her car was in a legislative parking lot. One of those photos is now posted at Sound Politics.

No one should be surprised that the tip came from a political opponent of Keiser's. That's how these things often get out. As I tell people, politicians don't usually call us and tell us what embarrassing thing they just did. They tell us what the other guy did. It doesn't necessarily make something less believable just because the tip came from an opponent. So far this story seems fairly minor and no one has come forward to dispute any part of Keiser's telling.

Keiser wasn't surprised to learn that the Republican Party was the conduit for the tip. But she didn't know who the witness was. It was a few blocks from the Capitol at about 7 p.m., so there may have been several people watching. But Keiser said that Republican efforts to publicize the story is an attempt to divert her from legislation she is trying to help pass in the final days of the session, including a family leave bill.

"It is hostile and borders on harassment at a critical time in the legislative session," Keiser said.