I just think that anyone should be able to get on the ballot. Running for office and working for someone who's running for office are valuable educational experiences which prepare a person for other political activities later. Everyone who can take the abuse ought to have that education available.

Whether the Democrats should pursue the same tactics is a different question. To win honestly is better than to follow this Republican example. But, you know, the Democrats are fractious enough to have been doing this to themselves already for several decades. It might not hurt to give aid and comfort to a candidate marginal to the average Republican but attractive to the Religious Right.

I have no reason to believe that the Green candidate isn't running as a Green. The Republicans have decided to fund his attempt to get on the ballot. That should be widely publicized during the election campaign, as well as why they did it, so that the people who want Santorum out will know enough not to throw their votes away. Casey can beat the SOB.

Voting is like chess. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a queen to win the game. Sometimes you have to vote for someone you don't like as well in order to stave off a greater ill. If voters aren't smart enough to keep their eyes on the prize, well, we'll get the government we deserve. We have one like that now.