Well, it's official, the Green Party has just nominated another egomaniac/loser/idiot. Jill Stein?

[Jim Lane]

88. The Tea Partiers learned a magic word that still eludes Stein, Nader, and their ilk: "PRIMARIES".

If Stein wanted to give people a choice, exercise her right to run, articulate a progressive critique of Obama for being too conservative, etc., she should have run against him in the Democratic primaries. That way she does all those things without splitting the anti-Romney vote. The last thing we need is a repeat of 2000. (Obligatory disclaimer to forestall the knee-jerk Naderite defense: Nader's foolish decision to run in the general election was only one factor in Bush's ascension to the Presidency, but it was, in legal terms, one of the proximate causes. If Nader had not run or had run in the primaries, Gore would have become President.)

The Tea Party is in some ways the mirror image of the Greens -- criticizing the mainstream of one of the major parties, from a point of view that's further away from the center rather than being toward the point of view of the other major party. The difference is that the Tea Party has generally not been seduced by the fantasy of starting a new political party. Instead, they've taken advantage of the rules to go after Republicans whom they consider insufficiently conservative. Their biggest scalp so far has been Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah. This year they ousted Sen. Richard Lugar, although whether the Tea Party candidate can win the seat remains to be seen.

If Stein had run against Obama in the Democratic primary, I would have voted for her. As it is, she will not get my vote.