In the sewer of this week’s politics, much whispering continues over who is the rat in the Labor ranks. This spilling of secret information to Laurie Oakes is drowning Julia Gillard’s campaign, as the first fortnight of the campaign draws to a close.

Who’s the leaker?

Former ALP leader Mark Latham is convinced it’s Kevin Rudd seeking revenge against Gillard. He suggested in The Latham Diaries that Rudd leaked stories to Laurie Oakes and he tells Sky News that Rudd is at it again:

“It’s the coward’s way to get on the blower with Laurie Oakes and say, ‘I’ll tell you this but you’re not allowed to identify me’. It’s the snake’s way. So I challenge Kevin Rudd to be a man, to be honest, to have some honour and actually, if he feels this strongly about it, put his name to his words. I think it’s unmanly and beneath a decent Aussie bloke to act this way, let alone an ex-prime minister… I think he was insulted and probably felt very insulted when having lost the prime ministership, and wanting to go on the frontbench and be a minister, he wasn’t accommodated.”

Joe Hockey may be a Liberal, but he’s got Rudd’s back: “I’d be surprised if Kevin Rudd was the source of the leak, I’d be very surprised.”

But the ALP hasn’t lost all faith in Rudd, reports Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald: “Labor has asked the former prime minister, Kevin Rudd, to campaign for the party outside his own seat, but he has asked for time to consider the request. Labor strategists believe the former prime minister is an asset for the party in Queensland, where the federal government is most vulnerable.”

Regardless of who it was, the leak has put Gillard in dog-paddle mode as she struggles to keep her head above water. Writes Michelle Grattan in The Age:

“A shocker second week for Labor’s election campaign has it spinning out of the grasp of the spinmeisters — and, given the apparent treachery in her own camp, this poses serious challenges for Prime Minister Julia Gillard.”

The leaks reveal what we know and choose to forget: politicians are driven by political advantage, says Paul Murray in The West Australian. “In a country where families are used to politicians pandering to their needs, this will dull the gloss on Ms Gillard’s meticulously crafted warm and caring persona,” writes Murray.

Latham’s one to point fingers. “…back in the glory days when Mark Latham ruled the roost, journalists didn’t have to ring the Labor frontbench after shadow cabinet. They called you,” reveals Samantha Maiden in The Australian.

It’s making Tony Abbott look like a serious contender just by being there, says Malcolm Farr in The Daily Telegraph: “The election campaign is about to end its second week and the alarming summation for Julia Gillard is that she has not won two days in a row for almost that long. Tony Abbott has taken most days, often by just turning up.”

Says Dennis Shanahan in The Oz: “The Leader of the Opposition, who started the campaign way behind and with low expectations, has proved to be far more disciplined than anticipated and is beginning to truly look like an alternative prime minister.”

Far from giving Abbott an advantage, this tough Gillard look works. “Then the proverbial hit the fan and, lo and behold, she suddenly looked like someone who had what it took to lead, writes Craig Johnstone at The Courier-Mail. “Angry at yet another Cabinet leak that suggested she was insincere in her support of paid parental leave, Gillard was direct, well-argued and finally looked like a woman with a burning desire to be prime minister and with a decent idea about what she would do if voters put her in the job.”

Gillard should be proud. Thank god someone in the government was questioning the constant spending, says George Megalogenis in The Oz:

“The policy back story to leak-gate offers a timely warning to all sides about best intentions. Julia Gillard is on the defensive because she is alleged to have talked down the idea of giving money to pensioners — a claim she denies. But she is spot-on when she says the promise had to be scrutinised. Everyone in the government felt that way because the new spending had to be delivered when the budget was at its sickest, last year.”

At the very least, the leak has been the single most exciting thing to happen in a campaign that so far has “been like watching paint dry, if the paint had been advised by head office to defer drying until 2013 for fear of frightening western Sydney,” writes Dominic Knight on The Drum. He offers up 10 other ways to make the campaign saucier, like more Barnaby Joyce, a bit of flirting between the leaders … and perhaps some actual policy.