Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Updated: The mystery of Alvin Greene solved

Posted by Chris Haire on Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 9:45 AM

Scroll down for Updates:

The Democratic Party in South Carolina is an knock-knock joke told in pig Latin. A porn movie without the money shot. The funky smell inside of Sarah Palin's knee-high leather boots. Jake Knotts. It's an embarrassment of the first order.

That's the only way to explain the victories last night of Alvin Greene and Ben Fraiser.

Some may call them stealth candidates. This is not adequate.

In the world of politics, they are apparitions who exist on another plane of existence and venture into ours only to cause pain and suffering, mischief and mayhem. And that's precisely what they did last night when Greene won the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race and Frasier the Dem nom in the U.S. First Congressional District Race.

And somehow they managed to do this by not even campaigning, at least not in the world that you and I are familiar with. In some supernatural realm, perhaps, but not here.

But enough with Greene and Frasier. I don't care that there is speculation out there that Greene may have been paid to run by some shadowy GOP cabal or that Frasier may call Maryland home. Those things are inconsequential. Neither caused their much more qualified opponents to lose. A simple mathematical equation did: $186,000=$10,400.

See, Rawl reportedly had $186,000 in his war chest, according noted liberal rag Mother Jones, while Greene may have paid only the $10,400 filing fee to run for the Senate and little else. But that was enough to win.

But $200 grand is a lot of money, you say.

Well, no, it's not.

It is no where near the $3.5 million DeMint has in his war chest or what Barrett, McMaster, Bauer, and even Nikki Haley spent on campaigning.

According to a May 27 post on Wolfe Reports, Barrett had spent $1,127,641.46 between April 1 and the last election filing, McMaster $1,029,613.03, Bauer $943,315.55, and Haley $245,426.51. Each figure, which does not include the cash each candidate still had on hand, was well above what Rawl had in his entire war chest.

Simply put: $186,000 wasn't enough to help Rawl get his name out there.

Believe you me, Rawl lost because voters had no idea who he was. When it comes to name recognition statewide, Rawl, despite being the better qualified candidate, was equal to Greene. And that meant Rawl was a nobody. (The same applies to Burton, who only managed to raise a few thousand bucks in his 1st Congressional District bid.)

So instead, the vote was decided by any number of factors, Greene's placement on the ballot ahead of Rawl, a toss of the coin, a fondness for Alvin and the Chipmunks. Who knows?

But know this: The Democratic Party should not be surprised that some phantom candidate beat out a known-entity within their party if that entity doesn't have enough cash to litter the roadways with campaign signs and blanket the TV with campaign ads.

Qualifications don't mean diddly these days, and most likely they never have. People really don't care about those things. They need a name they can recognize. And in order to get that, you need gobs of money — not a measly $186,000 — or the endorsement of a political celebrity.

So step it up, Dems. Either raise a helluva lot of cash next time or don't raise any at all. After all, $186,000=$10,400.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that Green "is facing a pending felony charge."

The AP says:

Court records show 32-year-old Alvin Greene was arrested in November and charged with showing obscene Internet photos to a University of South Carolina student. The felony charge carries up to five years in prison.

UPDATE:

The State is now reporting that the S.C. Democratic Party has asked Greene to withdraw from the race.

“Our candidates want to give this state a new beginning without the drama and irresponsibility of the past 8 years,” Fowler said in a statement, “and the charges against Mr. Greene indicate that he cannot contribute to that new beginning. I hope he will see the wisdom of leaving the race."

Topics: State Politics, Local Politics

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Comments (12)

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Greene is shocked and probably wondering whether he should get round to putting up a website and raising a few dollars.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/06/un…

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Posted by petewestwood on June 9, 2010 at 11:48 AM

"Qualifications don't mean diddly these days". Our president is evidence that this may be a true statement, however, I don't think so.

Greene won because everyone with the money and political experiance (and, coincidently, qualifications) knew it was a hopeless cause. Demint is extremely popular in this state, just as James Clyburn is in his district. You don't exatcly see the "qualified" individuals lining up to run against James Clyburn, do you? Money spent on those campaigns is better of spent in more competitive races. The DNC and GOP knows this and spend and donate their money appropriatly.

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Posted by Reace on June 9, 2010 at 12:15 PM

News 5 just reported this on Twitter:
Surprise winner Alvin Greene now facing felony obscenity charges

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Posted by TiredTaxPayer on June 9, 2010 at 2:19 PM

Tired Tax Payer: Thanks for the tip.

This is the best election cycle ever.

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Posted by chrishaire on June 9, 2010 at 2:56 PM

Helps to pass time when the TV rerun season starts! :)

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Posted by TiredTaxPayer on June 9, 2010 at 3:02 PM

This quote from the Huffington Post-

"State Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler said voters unfamiliar with either candidate may have voted alphabetically for Greene over Rawl."

Sad commentary. It is possible that some voters who didn't do their homework before the election may have done this. But if you use this kind of logic, Robert Ford would be the Demo front-runner.

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Posted by Damon Fordham on June 9, 2010 at 3:11 PM

Far be it for the Dems to not vote for Rawl for Racial reasons!!!!!!!!

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Posted by truthrus on June 9, 2010 at 5:12 PM

Man, it must have been tough for Democratic voters to put down their copy of People Magazine long enough to go to the polls yesterday.

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Posted by Jason Usry on June 9, 2010 at 7:29 PM

So far, all we have are allegations. Mr. Greene has not been indicted. His arrest was in Nov '09. There was no plea and no movement or statement from the state regarding 'why' he was arrested. Sounds like he may have shown a dirty picture to a college student. Sounds like he may not have shown a dirty picture to a college student. Huh?
I am a Republican, and still, there is no reason to believe the state has any credible evidence that Mr. Greene may have shown a 'dirty picture' to a 'college aged student'. What's going on here, really, folks? The Mystery is NOT Mr. Greene. And the real mystery has not been solved and will dissapear silently when the state is forced to dismiss. Of course the state's motive here is the real mystery. Cut him loose, Mr. Solicitor and apologize or allow Mr. Greene to defend himself.

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Posted by agoodsongmaker on June 10, 2010 at 5:50 AM

@agoodsongmaker;
The newspapers have indicated that Greene is entering pre-trial intervention for the "allegations", indicating that there is credible evidence supporting the charge.

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Posted by what! on June 10, 2010 at 2:42 PM

Someone tells me that Rawl actually got Greene into the race so that his allowed contributions from individuals would be higher ($1,000 x 2 for a contested primary and general election). Check it out.

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Posted by jenniferjm on June 10, 2010 at 4:46 PM

I heard a great theory that Rawl actually got Greene into the race so that his allowed contributions from individuals would be higher ($1,000 x 2 for a contested primary and general election). Check it out.

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Posted by jenniferjm on June 10, 2010 at 4:46 PM
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