The middle option is what the MSM was aiming for, and it's quite different from the first in terms of its outcome. I agree that they're trying to get conservatives to stay home. I disagree that they're tying to get them to vote third-party. They're instead trying to get them to think of themselves as isolated and out of touch, and that would make them less likely to vote third-party.
There's a reason why during the '04 elections, a number of MSM sites had online polls up listing Bush and Kerry as options for respondents to choose from, and occasionally Nader, but never, ever, Badnarik or Peroutka.
And in all fairness, I think Badnarik and Peroutka would have to be tracking at at least 1% of the vote to merit the bandwidth.