Libertarian Andrew Horning channeled John Lennon at an Oct. 23 debate among candidates for a U.S. Senate seat from Indiana.

People say Im a dreamer. You know, Im not the only one, Horning said, drawing chuckles from the audience in New Albany.

Turning serious, Horning pointed to the candidates flanking him Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd, and Republican state Treasurer Richard Mourdock and told audience and TV viewers: You dont have to choose this. You can do better than this.

Horning is dreaming if he thinks he has a chance to win election Tuesday. But he could wind up as a nightmare for Republicans.

Hornings election history shows he is good for 2 percent to 4 percent of the vote. He has run for governor, Indianapolis mayor and a seat in the U.S. House attracting nearly 44 percent of the vote when he was a Republican congressional candidate in 2004.

If the race between Donnelly and Mourdock is as close as some polls and many pundits have suggested, the ultraconservative Horning could be the spoiler.

I think he could take quite a few votes from Mourdock, said Ray Scheele, a political scientist at Ball State University.

Scheele called Horning a pretty good landing spot for die-hard supporters of six-term Sen. Richard Lugar who are still bitter over Lugars loss to Mourdock in the Republican primary election but who cant bring themselves to vote for a Democrat.

Horning disputed the assessment, saying Thursday in a phone interview that his non-Libertarian supporters are mostly Democrats.

Every percent I get is something that rankles the powers that be, Horning said. You hear their rhetoric; they say Im stealing votes from this or that (candidate).

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Libertarian could spell trouble for Mourdock