Nader Redux

The Libs have been frothing at the mouth with the expectation of Bob Casey Jr. beating Rick Santorum. It's a twofer for them, they get rid of the man they hate in politics more than anyone but BUsh and they get the seat.

The GOP seems to have come up with an inventive strategy:

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Thanks to the generosity of GOP donors, a Green Party candidate is expected to make it onto the ballot in Pennsylvania's Senate race and siphon votes from Democratic front-runner Bob Casey in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Rick Santorum.

While Santorum said Monday that he would welcome another candidate on the ballot, Casey's campaign accused Republicans of "trying to steal the election."

Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli, making his first bid for statewide elective office, acknowledged Monday that Republican contributors probably supplied most of the $100,000 that he said he spent gathering signatures to qualify for the Nov. 7 ballot.

Romanelli said he expects to turn in far more than the required 67,070 signatures by Tuesday's deadline.

I don't see a Green Party candidate stealing that many votes in Pennsylvania, which is a state that is coal-driven and has no patience for environmentalists. The key constituency where the Greens might make things interesting is in Philly which is as blue as blue gets and has alot of college-age residents.

The donks are pissed. Chris Bowers whines the most:

If people want to float into irrelevancy by working with the Green Party then fine, less power to them (less power, of course, being exactly what they will get). However, if your party is being funded almost entirely by large contributions from Santorum donors, don't talk to me about how "progressive principles" form your rationale for being a member of that party. Someone who is a principled progressive wouldn't take money from people like that.

Bowers and friends have already alienated the DLC-type Dems, now you're alienating the environmentalists. The only ones left will be the nutroots types and there aren't enough of them to win any election.

Hey, works for me.