Alvin Greene has been on the phone all day. That's to be expected for the guy who just won South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary and is facing incumbent Republican Jim DeMint in November. But everyone calling Greene has just been trying to find out who the heck he is — and one thing reporters learned Tuesday is that a criminal complaint was sworn out against him last year for allegedly showing obscene photos to a South Carolina college student and suggesting they go to her dorm room.
Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed military veteran who lives with his parents, defeated Vic Rawl on Tuesday for the Democratic Senate nomination despite having run essentially no public campaign — no events, no signs, no debates, no website, no fundraising.
The result has baffled political observers, who had heavily favored Rawl — a former state legislator, attorney and prosecutor who had the edge inasmuch as he actually campaigned and tried to win. Many in South Carolina (which has grandly lived up to its reputation as a political circus this year) suspect that somewhere, a crafty GOP political operative is snickering.
As far as the local political press can discern, the only positive step Greene took toward campaigning was when he plunked down a $10,400 check in March to satisfy the state's filing fee and get on the ballot. He never registered a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission or filed a financial disclosure with the Senate Ethics Committee.
So why did he run, and how did he win? "I campaigned," Greene, who spoke rapidly and seemed distracted, told Yahoo! News in a brief interview. "It was a low-budget campaign. I funded it 100 percent out of my own pocket, and kept it simple — it was old-fashioned." Asked what, precisely, that campaign consisted of, and how much he spent on it, Greene demurred. "Not much. I had friends helping me."
He said he hasn't yet reached the $5,000 spending limit that triggers a requirement to file with the FEC, despite having spent that $10,400 filing fee (a pretty penny for someone with no job). Like any good politician, Greene tried to deflect questions about the particulars of his campaign to talk of "the issues."
"I graduated from the University of South Carolina," he said. "We have more unemployment than any other time in South Carolina history. Hold on, I have another beep."
Shortly after his Yahoo! News interview, the Associated Press reported that Greene was arrested in November on the obscene photo complaint. Charges are pending, and he hasn't entered a plea. One could, of course, note that such charges wouldn't necessarily hurt a candidate in a Palmetto state election season that's featured plenty of sensational sexual charges.
I LOVE it. Alvin walks in, "Hey I'm the new Senator, oh and here's some obscene photos. Dig it."
This guy shows up from nowhere, wins the primary and just plunks down a load of dirty laundry. He is ahead of the game, he didn't wait until he was in office, he just brought the sex scandal right in the front door on his first day of work. Love him or Hate him, this guy is the new breed of politician. The everyman...if every man were unemployed and lived at their parents' house. You can tell somethings up here though, whether he is a plant from Republicans, (black pol trying to get votes down south, tips the vote towards the white republican), or he's just in over his head. Greene has no idea what's going on, read the interview with Yahoo, he's like, "well lots of people don't have jobs and live at home, and my room is in the basement and kind of like a studio so it's not that bad, but I still try to take my ass back to her place..." SNAP OUT OF IT ALVIN, you're a politician man. That's how they rock things, stop with the excuses. You're like a Kennedy, they all lived in the same house their entire lives. Fucken A man. The only thing that has to happen for me to keep liking this guy is that when he gets questioned about the obscene photos, he doesn't try to dodge it. Take it on the forehead and be honest: "Yes, I showed some porn to a chick. Then I suggested we go back to her place and screw. Why the hell we talking about this when the unemployment rate is at an all-time high? Next question?"
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
FINALLY, AN HONEST POLITICIAN
Alvin Greene has been on the phone all day. That's to be expected for the guy who just won South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary and is facing incumbent Republican Jim DeMint in November. But everyone calling Greene has just been trying to find out who the heck he is — and one thing reporters learned Tuesday is that a criminal complaint was sworn out against him last year for allegedly showing obscene photos to a South Carolina college student and suggesting they go to her dorm room.
Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed military veteran who lives with his parents, defeated Vic Rawl on Tuesday for the Democratic Senate nomination despite having run essentially no public campaign — no events, no signs, no debates, no website, no fundraising.
The result has baffled political observers, who had heavily favored Rawl — a former state legislator, attorney and prosecutor who had the edge inasmuch as he actually campaigned and tried to win. Many in South Carolina (which has grandly lived up to its reputation as a political circus this year) suspect that somewhere, a crafty GOP political operative is snickering.
As far as the local political press can discern, the only positive step Greene took toward campaigning was when he plunked down a $10,400 check in March to satisfy the state's filing fee and get on the ballot. He never registered a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission or filed a financial disclosure with the Senate Ethics Committee.
So why did he run, and how did he win? "I campaigned," Greene, who spoke rapidly and seemed distracted, told Yahoo! News in a brief interview. "It was a low-budget campaign. I funded it 100 percent out of my own pocket, and kept it simple — it was old-fashioned." Asked what, precisely, that campaign consisted of, and how much he spent on it, Greene demurred. "Not much. I had friends helping me."
He said he hasn't yet reached the $5,000 spending limit that triggers a requirement to file with the FEC, despite having spent that $10,400 filing fee (a pretty penny for someone with no job). Like any good politician, Greene tried to deflect questions about the particulars of his campaign to talk of "the issues."
"I graduated from the University of South Carolina," he said. "We have more unemployment than any other time in South Carolina history. Hold on, I have another beep."
Shortly after his Yahoo! News interview, the Associated Press reported that Greene was arrested in November on the obscene photo complaint. Charges are pending, and he hasn't entered a plea. One could, of course, note that such charges wouldn't necessarily hurt a candidate in a Palmetto state election season that's featured plenty of sensational sexual charges.
I LOVE it. Alvin walks in, "Hey I'm the new Senator, oh and here's some obscene photos. Dig it."
This guy shows up from nowhere, wins the primary and just plunks down a load of dirty laundry. He is ahead of the game, he didn't wait until he was in office, he just brought the sex scandal right in the front door on his first day of work. Love him or Hate him, this guy is the new breed of politician. The everyman...if every man were unemployed and lived at their parents' house. You can tell somethings up here though, whether he is a plant from Republicans, (black pol trying to get votes down south, tips the vote towards the white republican), or he's just in over his head. Greene has no idea what's going on, read the interview with Yahoo, he's like, "well lots of people don't have jobs and live at home, and my room is in the basement and kind of like a studio so it's not that bad, but I still try to take my ass back to her place..." SNAP OUT OF IT ALVIN, you're a politician man. That's how they rock things, stop with the excuses. You're like a Kennedy, they all lived in the same house their entire lives. Fucken A man. The only thing that has to happen for me to keep liking this guy is that when he gets questioned about the obscene photos, he doesn't try to dodge it. Take it on the forehead and be honest: "Yes, I showed some porn to a chick. Then I suggested we go back to her place and screw. Why the hell we talking about this when the unemployment rate is at an all-time high? Next question?"
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