Tamyra D'Ippolito and the Reps: Political Bedfellows

What would make conservative Republicans big fans of a liberal Democrat? It's the idea that the Democrats would make for an easily beatable candidate come November. It was bad enough for the Democrats that Evan Bayh retired. Then, we got word that an obscure Democrat was within striking distance of gaining the necessary signatures of being on the ballot this May in the primaries. Since the Democratic establishment expected Bayh to run for reelection, they didn't bother to groom any other candidates. As such, if D'Ippolito gets the necessary signatures and files in time, she'll be the only one on the ballot. Everyone else would need to be a write in. Conservative blogs went into hyper mode with many encouraging their breathren to help D'Ippolito to get the necessary signatures.

Ms. d’Ippolito is currently 1,000 signatures short of the deadline. Actually, to be honest she’s probably several thousand signatures short, given that the Indiana Democratic party is going to be institutionally hostile to the idea of having her on the ballot as the official Democratic candidate. When she announced back in December Ms. d’Ippolito was aware of the unlikelihood of being treated seriously, or civilly: she’s even more aware of it now, judging from the TPM article.

At this late stage, it appeas that she's gotten the necessary signatures though that won't be official for days and likely face several legal challenges. It's not clear just how much help she got from Republicans but it does appear we have a case of strange political bedfellows.

UPDATE:

It appears that Ms. D'Ippolito has fallen short.

Tamyra D’Ippolito, a Bloomington cafe owner who had been challenging Bayh for the nomination, appeared to fall far short of the mark. According to state Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker, she gathered just 22 valid signatures across the state.


Earlier Tuesday morning, D’Ippolito insisted to POLITICO she would have enough signatures to be on the ballot and made a Fox News appearance expressing the same degree of optimism.

The Democratic party will now pick a candidate in the spring.