NJ Democrats Work to Get a Tea Party Candidate on the Ballot

Democrats in South-Western New Jersey have done what some would consider the unthinkable. They actively worked to get a "Tea Party" candidate on the ballot in their congressional district. Of course, the candidate Peter DeStefano is not actually affiliated with any of the major Tea Party groups from around the country. None the less, he will be on the ballot in November running under the party tag of NJ Tea Party. The Democrats ran the numbers and decided that a generic "Tea Party" candidate was likely to draw around 5% from the Republican's vote total. Currently, Rep. John Adler is in a tight race with Republican Jon Runyan. There has been no admission of any knowledge from Rep. Adler yet, but many well known and well connected Democrats from the district have their names on the petition to have Peter DeStefano on the ballot and in New Jersey by signing that type of petition you are pledging your support for that candidate. Perhaps the worst looking part of the story in the Courier-Port is the following.
"Regional Tea Party groups said they'd never heard of DeStefano until the Adler campaign released partial results of an internal poll last summer that indicated DeStefano might be a viable third-party challenger. In July and August, DeStefano agreed several times to be interviewed by the Courier-Post and either canceled at the last minute or never showed up."

A candidate who blows off his local papers when running for national office is either foolish, paranoid, or has something to hide.