Third-Party Morality

It appears as though the Green Party of Pennsylvania has received/accepted over $66,000 in contributions from Republican supporters in order to try and get on the ballot in the PA Senate race. The thinking by the GOP is that this will split the far-left vote between the Green candidate and Democrat Bob Casey, thereby allowing everyone’s favorite frothy mixture, the beyond-awful Rick Santorum, to overcome his deficit in the polls and retain his Senate seat. Predictably, the Bleed-Blue-Forever! Dems at Daily Kos and elsewhere are outraged at this, saying the Greens should be ‘ashamed’ and claiming they have no principles and are tools of the GOP. Now, there is no Senator in America I want to lose more than ol’ man-on-dog Santorum. And if I cared about the Democrats’ success in the election (for the record, I would like them to take control of the Senate), maybe I’d care a lot more. But has the Green Party really done anything unethical here? I admit it feels a little dirty, but they have potentially enabled themselves to get on the ballot in a major Senate race, no small feat in a system that creates almost insurmountable barriers to entry for parties outside the mainstream. Should they care where there money is coming from? Or is it justifiable means to and end? Have they simply used the Republicans to achieve their goal of getting on the ballot? Or have they sold their soul to the devil on this one? I think some of the confusion lies with many Dem-supporters' belief that the Greens ‘like’ them. More likely, the Greens believe (as I do) that the Dems are as corrupt, power-mad, morally bankrupt and bereft of good ideas as the Republicans are.