3rd Party Ballot Access Rat-screws

By Dave Anderson

In a first past the post, single member district system, a third party candidate almost always hurts the major party candidate who they are ideologically closest to.  That is why Republicans and conservatives funded Ralph Nader's ballot access attempts in 2000 and 2004.  That is why some of the biggest Texas Green Party donors are also major conservative infrastructure donors.  It is also why some Eastern Pennsylvania Democrats are the best signature collectors for a Tea-bagger in PA-7 according to PoliticsPa:

the Meehan campaign says Lentz allies collected 4,800 of the 7,900
signatures Schneller reportedly submitted. In addition to Guiney, who
could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, 11 other Democrats
ciculated petitions on the tea party candidate�s behalf, said Meehan�s
campaign....

One GOP strategist not connected to the Meehan campaign said
Schneller�s placement on the ballot presents a strategic problem for the
Republican�s campaign.

�This is bad, because expect the DCCC or some 527 to drop mail to
microtargeted voters who identify with the tea party saying, �Bryan
Lentz and Pat Meehan are big spending establishment liberals, vote for
Schneller because he is a tea party guy,�� said the Republican insider.
�That forces Meehan to spend money reaching out to what should be base
Republicans. Every dollar there is one less dollar reaching out to
squish Republicans or moderate Democrats who are planning to vote for
Sestak and not sure who to vote for in the Congressional race.�

The Democratic bet this fall is three-fold.  Dems are seeking to minimize losses and hopefully hold onto at least one chamber by holding a cash advantage, exploiting an establishment GOP versus Tea Party civil war and encouraging marginal voters to either not vote or to vote against Bush's policies and the Republican history instead of the economy.  So far, the Dems are holding a cash advantage and are benefitting from several GOP nomination problems in Florida, Nevada, and Kentucky. 

Helping tea-baggers get on ballots is part of this strategy because tea-baggers are base Republican voters who are very motivated; generic Republican candidates need to either spend money or attention to woo what should be easy voters for them.  This move won't impact an election where it is a 20 point blow-out without a third party, but it could take away three or four points from a Republican which drops the minimal winning plurality for a Democrat and thus increases the odds of a win in a tight race.