We learned on Tuesday that Carl Romanelli, the Green Party candidate running in the Rick Santorum/Bob Casey Senate race in Pennsylvania, acknowledged that Republican contributors "probably supplied most" of his campaign's financial support. As it turns out, that was an understatement.

Paul Kiel discovered yesterday that "every single contributor to the Pennsylvania Green Party Senate candidate is actually a conservative -- except for the candidate himself."

Indeed, one of Romanelli's more generous contributions came from a Halliburton lobbyist. The only non-Republican donation Romanelli received was a $30 contribution that Romanelli gave himself. (The guy is only willing to chip in 30 bucks for his own campaign?)

These schemes -- conservatives help Greens to hurt Dems -- isn't new, and plenty of Greens don't like it. Peter Camejo, Nader's running mate in 2004, said he believed in returning the money sent to the campaign from conservatives who wanted to exploit an ideological opportunity. "[I]f your purpose [for contributing] is because you think this is going to have an electoral effect, we don't want that money," Camejo said. "I take no money from people who disagree with us. We're not interested in that." As it turned out, Nader disagreed with Camejo's beliefs and wanted the money anyway, but at a minimum, Camejo's position is ideologically consistent.

But for guys like Romanelli, it's absurd. The GOP wants to use him as a tool, split the left, and help keep Santorum, one of the Senate's most conservative members, in office for another six years. In response, Romanelli, the alleged champion of progressive ideals, essentially responds, "Sounds good to me."

--–Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report