South Carolina's top law enforcement agency announced Friday that it will not file charges against Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) had been investigating how Greene, a political newcomer who could not afford a lawyer when facing criminal charges last year, came up with the $10,440 needed to get his name on the Democratic Senate primary ballot.
"After a thorough investigation, SLED has concluded that there is no evidence of wrongdoing, criminal intent or deception to the court when Greene applied for a public defender last year," the agency said in a statement Friday.
"During the course of the investigation, SLED determined that monies spent for Greene's filing fee were the candidate's personal funds and therefore, no laws were violated in association with Greene's payment to the South Carolina Democratic Party," SLED said.
Greene has long maintained that he tapped into his personal savings to pay the filing fee.
Greene's June 4 Democratic primary victory stunned politicians in the state because they had never heard of him and saw no proof he had mounted any type of campaign. His primary opponent, Vic Rawl, tried to have the election overturned, saying there were voting machine irregularities, but the state party denied the request.
CNN reported earlier Friday that Greene retained a private criminal defense attorney against charges he showed pornographic images to a college student last November.
The existence of those criminal charges surfaced after the primary win. State Democratic leaders called for him to step aside, at the time afraid he would not mount a serious campaign against incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
Neither he nor the attorney, Eleazer Carter, will disclose whether Carter is being paid. Carter told CNN he is an acquaintance of Greene's father and took on the case three weeks ago.
Greene has not had to enter a plea, and no trial date has been set. He has remained tight-lipped regarding the charges.
"I'm innocent until proven guilty. And like I said, I'm concentrating on my campaign issues, jobs, education and justice," he told CNN in an interview in his Manning, South Carolina home last month. He refused to answer any more questions regarding the allegations.
Though the law enforcement agency said it determined that Greene used his own money to pay the party's filing fee, the South Carolina attorney general's office told CNN that it never received a request from SLED to subpoena Greene's bank records.
Looks as if Alvin Greene's win is finally gaining widespread acceptance and support.
This is why I believe the state of South Carolina is years ahead of North Carolina as it relates to Civil Rights.
A Black Man like Alvin Greene (unemployed, not a sell-out) would never have been given the opportunity to file or win such a high-profile political race in Racist North Carolina.
Check out the video below of Mr. O'Donnell's extremely positive commentary on Greene's win.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham began a final statewide swing in Charlotte this morning by picking up the endorsement of Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Cannon.
Cannon and Cunningham spoke to reporters at Mert’s Heart & SoulMe restaurant uptown, where they were joined by about a dozen campaign volunteers.
Cannon urged Democrats to go to the polls Tuesday and for a candidate with “new energy (and) new spirit.”
Cunningham faces Incumbent Politician, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall in a runoff for the right to challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr.
Like Cannon, Cunningham said turnout is the key for each candidate.
“(Marshall) has a cadre of loyal supporters, we have built a cadre of loyal supporters,” he said. The question is, have we been able to build this fast enough to overcome her 14-year head start? I think so, but it’s going to be close.”
Cunningham is going on to appearances in Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Wilmington.
South Carolina Democratic Party officials on Thursday upheld a surprising U.S. Senate primary win by an unemployed military veteran, rejecting a protest lodged by their favored candidate that could have required a new vote.
The party's executive committee decided there was not enough evidence of impropriety to nullify the June 8 election victory by Alvin Greene, a 32-year-old who lives with his father and waged no visible campaign against a former lawmaker.
Greene did not attend the meeting and nobody spoke on his behalf. Reached afterward by phone, he reiterated one of his few, common public statements about his candidacy.
"I am the best candidate in the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina. Let's stop my opponent from reversing forward progress in the United States and South Carolina," he said.
The move upholds the improbable win by Greene, who raised no money and didn't even have a campaign website.
S.C. Democratic Party leaders had intensified their scrutiny after The Associated Press reported Greene faces a felony obscenity charge and the candidate stammered through a series of awkward, terse news interviews. Some accused Republicans of having a hand in the election.
Greene will face Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who is considered a heavy favorite.
The party's 92-member executive committee made its decision after experts and voters testified for election loser Vic Rawl that questionable balloting statistics and problems with touch-screen voting machines indicated a corrupted final tally.
However, members of the committee said they hadn't been presented with enough concrete evidence and could not overturn an election, no matter how much they wanted Rawl, a former lawmaker and judge, to win.
"We do the right thing even when it hurts us," state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter said before the vote that overwhelmingly went in Greene's favor. "We do the right thing even when by doing the right thing it conflicts with eveything that we feel in our hearts."
Rawl said he would not appeal the decision but did not answer other questions.
Among the questions that have raised suspicions about Greene is that he has failed to fully answer is how he paid the $10,440 filing fee to run for office in March. He has said he saved up his military pay for two years but has refused to show party officials or news outlets bank statements to substantiate that.
Yesterday, we talked to Alvin Greene, a candidate for U.S. Senate from the state of South Carolina. Between the questions asked by Roland and Sybil, it was clear that they were not with this brother at all.
They fired off a barrage of really tough questions, like "Where did you get the money to run?" "Where is your campaign office headquartered?" And "Are you guilty of being a sex felon?"
Brother Alvin got stumped by most of those questions, and he quickly became a joke to a lot of the listeners. And I have a problem with that.
I admit that in the beginning, when I first heard about Alvin Greene, I was suspicious that he was put up to running by the Republicans - and it could still be true. But until I’m convinced of it, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.
If I don’t, who will?
Here’s a black man who could be on the up-and-up. And if he is, what’s wrong with him running for the Senate?
Aren’t we the ones who complain about people buying their way into office? How offices like U.S. Senator are held by an elite club made of mostly of very rich, very white men? So here’s an average, everyday guy - who is not a political insider - who was able to get enough votes to be placed on the ballot.
He has more in common with the average voter than most of us, and based on his platform - justice, jobs and education - he’s qualified.
He’s got a case, so he needs justice and will fight for it; he’s out of work, so he will try to improve the unemployment situation in S.C.; and he’s no stranger to education - he’s a graduate from the University of South Carolina where he majored in political science. Even though he wasn’t the strongest speaker I’ve ever heard, a college degree from a major university is nothing to scoff at.
There have been people who've done far more with far less in the political arena; the difference is, they usually aren’t black people.
The status quo has been for Black people to have to be overqualified for high -profile positions in corporate America and national American politics as well. Being average is not an option at all.
Look at President Obama.
Even with all of his credentials, he regularly had to explain what made him qualified to run this country.
He had everything that Alvin Greene didn’t, and he still had a tough time — not just with critics concerned about his political views, but with people, black and white, who asked if he was ready to be president even though he was a young, brilliant, Harvard Law-educated U.S. senator.
Now that he has set the bar so high, will every black politician be expected to have a similar pedigree?
And if so, what does that mean for the rest of the more ordinary African-American politicians or just people with good ideas who have aspirations of holding office? If Alvin Greene is a joke, he’ll show his hand soon enough. And that will be done.
My support is not necessarily for Alvin Greene the man, but for Alvin Greene the principle - that any man or woman with a solid platform, in spite of his or her bank account, can run for office and win.
If Alvin Greene is for real, what he needs is a good campaign manager, a good speechwriter, a good fundraiser and a good lawyer. We don’t know what he could actually offer this country if given .....
When we immediately clown the Alvin Greenes of the world, we are sending a dangerous message, and I don’t want to be a part of that.
So, even though I can’t vote for him, I’m with him. I jumped out there and blindly supported candidate Obama before he became a rock star, and I’m doing the same for Alvin Greene. I would even put one of his bumper stickers on my car - if only he had one.
In the meantime, I’m going to re-watch Eddie Murphy’s movie, “The Distinguished Gentleman," and I suggest that Alvin Greene do the same. Go Greene!
At least one prominent Democrat in Washington is calling for an investigation into the legitimacy of the Democratic Senate candidate in South Carolina, but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is staying out of the fray so far.
Alvin Greene -- an unknown, 32-year-old, unemployed veteran facing pending felony charges -- shocked the political world when he won Tuesday's Democratic primary. His victory raised questions about how an unknown, unemployed candidate managed to soundly defeat a relatively well-funded opponent, or even pay the $10,400 filing fee to enter the race.
House Democratic whip James Clyburn of South Carolina said Greene is probably a "plant", either from the Republican party or some other group, and that the U.S. Attorney's office should investigate the matter.
But Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), chair of the DSCC, said today that it is up to the South Carolina Democratic Party to determine whether there was any interference in the primary from the GOP or anyone else.
"Right now the DSCC is not engaged there," Menendez said, evading questions from reporters about whether the DSCC supports the state party's request for Greene to drop out of the race. So far Greene has said he is staying in the race and has nothing to hide.
The DSCC did not bother investing in the primary since the incumbent, Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, is expected to hold onto his seat.
While Greene's victory was a surprise, Menendez said there have been plenty of surprises on the Republican side so far that improve the Democrats' chances in November -- such as Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle's victory in the GOP Senate primary in Nevada.
Republicans are "in the position now of having to support candidates they didn't want," he said.
In Florida, Menendez said the DSCC is committed to supporting Rep. Kendrick Meek, even though a new Quinnipiac poll shows him in a statistical dead heat with his wealthy primary challenger Jeff Greene among Democratic primary voters.
"We believe [Meek] can win the general election," Menendez said, adding that Meek does not have very much name recognition yet.
Additionally, Menendez said he still expects the support of labor unions this year, even though the party's relationship with the unions has been strained over Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's campaign.
"I fully expect them to be engaged with us" this election season, he said.
Now Alvin Greene's critics claim he won because he's Black. Wait a minute! Could this be true? Are Black Voters really that gullible? Perhaps in some regions.
If not what else explains why he won the S.C. Dem. Primary?
After watching Keith Olbermann's interview with Mr. Greene I'm convinced something about this situation is not quite right.
What say you fine folks?
Check out the video and article below than reach your own conclusions about this crazy political faux pas.
Alvin Greene, the unknown, unheralded, un-everything U.S. Senate primary winner in South Carolina, kept reminding me of something -- and somebody. Finally figured it out.
If you've seen Greene on TV, you learn two things: One, his interviews set the Guinness record for awkward pauses, and two, it's clear he doesn't have a clue what's going on. All he does is repeat the same lines about "Sixty percent of the vote is no accident" and "I just conducted a simple old-fashioned campaign," which is especially funny because I'm still not aware of anyone in South Carolina who went to an Alvin Greene rally, or had Alvin Greene come to their house, or even saw him on the side of a road waving a campaign sign like those kids doing a car wash for the glee club.
He might have won the S.C. Democratic primary because he's Black, or he might have won because he was the first candidate alphabetically, or he might be a Republican plant, but one thing is clear -- he didn't win because the people of South Carolina deeply desire to put him in Congress. Although they've probably done worse.
If you watch him on TV, you think, what a disaster. But when I figured out who he reminded me of, it started to make sense.
The 1979 movie "Being There" is about Chance (Peter Sellers), a gardener born with "rice pudding between the ears." All he can talk about is gardening. All he likes to do is watch TV. But through a series of events, he ends up in the home (played by the Biltmore House!) of a rich businessman with political connections. And so Chance the gardener becomes Chauncey Gardiner, whose empty-headed homilies about the weather sound like Zen in a different context.
For a few hours this week, it looked as if South Carolina might ditch its never-fail reputation for political scandal in favor of a genuine history-making event.
There was Nikki Haley, a lawmaker of Indian descent, beaming on election night with her husband and children after taking a major step toward becoming the first female governor of the state. It was a feel-good image to obscure the stain of a campaign marked by ethnic slurs, accusations of marital infidelity and yet more national marveling over how a single state can produce a string of political embarrassments as long as the Appalachian Trail.
But then, the television cameras started rolling on Alvin Greene’s overgrown lawn.
“Yeah, it’s been pretty nonstop for a few days,” said Mr. Greene, 32, in a phone interview Friday.
Because everyone wants to know how Mr. Greene, an unemployed Army veteran who had been completely unknown until Tuesday, inexplicably defeated a heavily favored former legislator and judge to become the state’s Democratic nominee for the Senate — and the state’s latest political circus act.
Mr. Greene had just a few peaceful hours to savor his victory in the tiny, ramshackle home he shares with his elderly father along a quiet highway in Manning, where he has been bunkered since election night. Then, The Associated Press reported that Mr. Greene was arrested in November and is facing a felony obscenity charge; he is accused of showing pornography to a University of South Carolina student. He had been discharged “involuntarily” from the Army and showed no signs of having waged an actual campaign in recent months — no advertising, no staff, no money.
Mr. Greene, who declined to comment on the obscenity charge, would not say how he came up with the $10,440 to register his candidacy. Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina and the House majority whip, suggested that Mr. Greene was a “Republican plant” and that the circumstance reeked of the “shenanigans” that have become the state’s trademark.
“We have embarrassment fatigue here,” said Dick Harpootlian, the former Democratic chairman of the state. “If there is an embarrassment equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder, South Carolina has it.”
Even casual observers across the country can recite the recent litany of Palmetto State political antics. The Republican donnybrook between John McCain and George W. Bush in 2000 left more scars than any presidential primary campaign in recent memory. Gov. Mark Sanford’s public swoon over an Argentinean mistress — an affair he carried on while claiming to have been hiking the Appalachian Trail — remains a spigot of late-night punch lines (while Mr. Sanford remains the state’s governor).
The Republican primary campaign to succeed Mr. Sanford featured two operatives claiming to have had extramarital affairs with Ms. Haley (who strenuously denied the accusations) as well as a Republican state senator dismissing her with an ethnic slur.
Now comes Mr. Greene, adding Democratic balance to the state’s Republican-dominated scandal sheets of recent vintage. Mr. Clyburn immediately called for someone to investigate Mr. Greene’s candidacy — who paid for the campaign, who was behind it, how did he ever win?
Mr. Harpootlian, a former district attorney, wants to know why Mr. Greene had not filed any papers with the Federal Election Commission, and Don Fowler, a former Democratic National Committee chairman from South Carolina, said he suspected that someone tampered with the voting machines.
“There is something genuinely mysterious about this whole thing,” said Mr. Fowler, whose wife, Carol, the current chairwoman of the state’s Democratic Party, has called for Mr. Greene to step aside.
Mr. Greene said he had no intention of doing so. He said the whole gambit has been his idea, that he paid the entry fee and that his was — and remains — “a self-managed campaign.” He said he would challenge his Republican opponent, Senator Jim DeMint, to a debate in September. “It will be one hour. Live. On a major network,” he proposed.
Mr. Greene said he was determined to go through with this, which would seem to belie the somewhat shell-shocked demeanor he has projected in several interviews over the last 72 hours. “Can I end this?” Mr. Greene asked in the middle of a brief interview with a local television station in front of his house Wednesday. It might as well be his campaign’s official motto, or wish, at least as far as leading Democrats are concerned.
“Sad,” Mr. Clyburn said, referring to the spectacle that Mr. Greene has become on the cable and YouTube circuits.
Even in Manning, a town of 4,000 where everybody knows everybody, nobody seems to know Alvin Greene. “He just all of a sudden shows up and — boom!” said L. G. Mathis, 61, the owner of L. G.’s Cut and Style, a barber shop downtown.
It is another embarrassment for South Carolina, said Carl F. Jackson Jr, a graphic designer at a local newspaper, The Clarendon Citizen. “Anybody who got beyond eighth grade is a little astounded by this,” Mr. Jackson said, adding his own theory of how Mr. Greene had won. “Maybe voters thought it was the singer, Al Green.”
When asked in a phone interview Friday whether he was having “fun,” Mr. Greene quickly answered yes, before asking for clarification.
“What do you mean by fun?”
Without waiting for an answer, Mr. Greene said he was not interested in “fun,” or signing autographs (which he has yet to do) or indulging any of the trappings of his unlikely celebrity. He is interested in sticking to the issues that are important — jobs, education, justice — and to conveying why he is “the best candidate for the United States Senate in South Carolina.”
Before elaborating on why he was, Mr. Greene excused himself, saying that he had to finish another interview.
In a building on Devine Street, in a small conference room on the first floor, a man, a woman and three others patched in by conference call Friday certified one of the most surprising election results in S.C. history.
Alvin Greene - an unemployed military veteran facing a felony obscenity charge, unknown by Democrats even in the rural county where he lives - is the official winner of the S.C. Democratic Party's primary for the U.S. Senate, the S.C. Election Commission decided.
Democrat Party officials scratched their heads over how Greene's candidacy moved forward despite that pending felony charge.
His vanquished primary opponent, former state legislator Vic Rawl of Charleston, wouldn't talk to The State on Friday but is reported to be poring over the results, looking for something that might explain how Greene got 59 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate, Tom Clements, is hoping disaffected Democrats will turn to him as the best hope to unseat Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall.
And the 5th Circuit Solicitor's Office is looking into how Greene was able to get a Public Defender, which normally requires that a defendant be broke, to help him with that obscenity charge, given the $10,400 filing fee that Greene paid to run for the U.S. Senate.
Greene himself answered the telephone Friday at his home in Manning and repeated what Democratic Party officials did not want to hear: He has no intention of dropping out of the race.
"The people of South Carolina have spoken," he said. "I am their candidate. I want to talk about the issues and not anything else. Jobs, education and justice."
It was a refrain Greene offered often during the course of a 15-minute interview, punctuated more than a half-dozen times by interruptions that appeared to be from his call-waiting system.
Asked what people should know about him, Greene paused, said "OK, OK" several times and added he was born in Florence and grew up in Manning.
He served in the Air Force and the Army, which gave him an honorable discharge he described as "involuntary."
"They should know my campaign slogan is, "Let's get South Carolina back to work", Greene said.
Asked if he had help paying his filing fee, as suggested by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., in a conference call on Thursday, Greene said: "I paid that with my own money."
Greene said he campaigned across the state but offered no details of any particular places where he had traveled.
A pair of state legislators who met with Greene Thursday to urge him to drop his Senate bid came away concerned about Greene's mental state.
Asked if they or the people of South Carolina should be concerned about his mental state, Greene simply said, "No."
On Aug. 16, political parties will certify to the State Election Commission that their candidates for the fall election can or will be able to meet the requirements of the office they seek.
Democrats could not replace Greene on the ballot unless he meets narrow, non-political guidelines for stepping down.
Meanwhile, fingers are being pointed at the state Democratic Party, its leaders and others for failing to check out Greene.
Carol Fowler, chairwoman of the S.C. State Democratic Party, said the party's researcher did look into Greene's background but did not turn up anything unusual.
Greene was arrested in November and charged with obscenity after a University of South Carolina student said he showed her pornographic pictures in a computer lab and suggested they go to her room.
Fowler said she did not find out about the charge until after the primary.
In a building on Devine Street, in a small conference room on the first floor, a man, a woman and three others patched in by conference call Friday certified one of the most surprising election results in S.C. history.
Alvin Greene - an unemployed military veteran facing a felony obscenity charge, unknown by Democrats even in the rural county where he lives - is the official winner of the S.C. Democratic Party's primary for the U.S. Senate, the S.C. Election Commission decided.
Democrat Party officials scratched their heads over how Greene's candidacy moved forward despite that pending felony charge.
His vanquished primary opponent, former state legislator Vic Rawl of Charleston, wouldn't talk to The State on Friday but is reported to be poring over the results, looking for something that might explain how Greene got 59 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate, Tom Clements, is hoping disaffected Democrats will turn to him as the best hope to unseat Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall.
And the 5th Circuit Solicitor's Office is looking into how Greene was able to get a Public Defender, which normally requires that a defendant be broke, to help him with that obscenity charge, given the $10,400 filing fee that Greene paid to run for the U.S. Senate.
Greene himself answered the telephone Friday at his home in Manning and repeated what Democratic Party officials did not want to hear: He has no intention of dropping out of the race.
"The people of South Carolina have spoken," he said. "I am their candidate. I want to talk about the issues and not anything else. Jobs, education and justice."
It was a refrain Greene offered often during the course of a 15-minute interview, punctuated more than a half-dozen times by interruptions that appeared to be from his call-waiting system.
Asked what people should know about him, Greene paused, said "OK, OK" several times and added he was born in Florence and grew up in Manning.
He served in the Air Force and the Army, which gave him an honorable discharge he described as "involuntary."
"They should know my campaign slogan is, "Let's get South Carolina back to work", Greene said.
Asked if he had help paying his filing fee, as suggested by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., in a conference call on Thursday, Greene said: "I paid that with my own money."
Greene said he campaigned across the state but offered no details of any particular places where he had traveled.
A pair of state legislators who met with Greene Thursday to urge him to drop his Senate bid came away concerned about Greene's mental state.
Asked if they or the people of South Carolina should be concerned about his mental state, Greene simply said, "No."
On Aug. 16, political parties will certify to the State Election Commission that their candidates for the fall election can or will be able to meet the requirements of the office they seek.
Democrats could not replace Greene on the ballot unless he meets narrow, non-political guidelines for stepping down.
Meanwhile, fingers are being pointed at the state Democratic Party, its leaders and others for failing to check out Greene.
Carol Fowler, chairwoman of the S.C. State Democratic Party, said the party's researcher did look into Greene's background but did not turn up anything unusual.
Greene was arrested in November and charged with obscenity after a University of South Carolina student said he showed her pornographic pictures in a computer lab and suggested they go to her room.
Fowler said she did not find out about the charge until after the primary.
"Here is Alvin Greene, unemployed, he goes into the S.C. Democratic Party headquarters and pays $10,000. That's no little bit of money for an unemployed person," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said. "This guy, who is he? Where did he come from?"
Greene, 32, stunned the Democratic Party establishment Tuesday night when he handily defeated Vic Rawl, a four-term state lawmaker and former judge, for the party's nomination. Rawl, who had campaigned little but already raised $186,000, was forced to scrap a fundraiser planned for Thursday night.
Greene has not reported any fundraising, run any ads, or put up signs in his challenge of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. The website AlvinGreene2010.com was established on Thursday, but it was unclear if it was officially posted by Greene's campaign.
He had been considered such a long shot that neither his opponent nor the media bothered to check his background, which includes a November arrest on a charge of felony obscenity.
Greene, who says he left the military last August after 13 years in the Army and Air Force, has said he paid the $10,440 filing fee by saving up two years of his service pay. On Thursday, Clyburn said he's skeptical Greene paid the fee himself and demanded that federal authorities investigate where the money came from.
"You ought not be allowed to subvert the electoral process in this country," Clyburn said. "I really believe that the federal authorities can get Mr. Greene to talk about where he got his money from and what's behind this."
Party officials asked Greene to sit out of the race after The Associated Press reported he faces a felony charge, which stems from a University of South Carolina student's complaint that he showed her a pornographic website, then talked about going to her room at a university dorm.
"I've recovered. I really have," said that student, Camille McCoy.
McCoy said she wanted to speak out after learning that the man charged in the case is now a Senate candidate.
"I felt it was my duty to let the rest of South Carolina know who's running. You should all be on the lookout because who knows what he wants to do," McCoy said.
But Greene insists he's staying in the race.
"I am a legitimate candidate," Greene said Thursday, in response to questions about Clyburn's investigation request. "There's no need for it."
Arriving for interviews at a Columbia television station Thursday afternoon in a dark suit, driven in a hired car, Greene marked a stark contrast to the day before. On Wednesday, Greene greeted a reporter at his childhood home in Manning, clad in a T-shirt and sweat pants.
Greene would be required to report campaign spending to the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal campaign finances. But the cash for the filing fee itself is given directly by candidates to the state party they wish to represent, and that money isn't subject to FEC filing requirements, officials with the agency said Thursday.
That answer doesn't satisfy Clyburn, who suspects there is more to be learned about Greene's pursuit.
"He's been paid to stay in it, by somebody," Clyburn said. "I just think this is a ploy by someone to dishonor and embarrass the Democratic Party."
Joel Sawyer, executive director of South Carolina's Republican Party, said Clyburn's allegations are evidence that the state's Democrats know they can't defeat DeMint.
"The Democratic Party is grasping at straws, and making absurd accusations to cover for their laughable incompetence in vetting candidates," Sawyer said. "That being said, if they're not even going to bother doing basic things like checking to see if their candidates have pending felony charges, we're feeling pretty doggone good about November already."
On Thursday, NewsChannel 36 reporter Rad Berky knocked on the door of the home where Greene lives with his father in Manning, S.C.
A Democratic Party activist from Manning, Henry King, who is also a friend of Greene's father, stopped by the house too, hoping to get some answers from Greene.
"I guess politically, people are doing whatever they can to straighten out this mess. I really don't know what to say at this point," King said as he waited outside, hoping Greene would answer the door.
Most Manning residents had no idea Greene was even running, including another longtime family friend, Isaac Mitchum, who voted for Greene, only after seeing his name on the ballot.
Mitchum said he did not know about the felony charge and said it might have changed the way he voted. "But I'd never heard of it," he said. "Far as I know they are fine family people."
"Here is Alvin Greene, unemployed, he goes into the S.C. Democratic Party headquarters and pays $10,000. That's no little bit of money for an unemployed person," House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said. "This guy, who is he? Where did he come from?"
Greene, 32, stunned the Democratic Party establishment Tuesday night when he handily defeated Vic Rawl, a four-term state lawmaker and former judge, for the party's nomination. Rawl, who had campaigned little but already raised $186,000, was forced to scrap a fundraiser planned for Thursday night.
Greene has not reported any fundraising, run any ads, or put up signs in his challenge of Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. The website AlvinGreene2010.com was established on Thursday, but it was unclear if it was officially posted by Greene's campaign.
He had been considered such a long shot that neither his opponent nor the media bothered to check his background, which includes a November arrest on a charge of felony obscenity.
Greene, who says he left the military last August after 13 years in the Army and Air Force, has said he paid the $10,440 filing fee by saving up two years of his service pay. On Thursday, Clyburn said he's skeptical Greene paid the fee himself and demanded that federal authorities investigate where the money came from.
"You ought not be allowed to subvert the electoral process in this country," Clyburn said. "I really believe that the federal authorities can get Mr. Greene to talk about where he got his money from and what's behind this."
Party officials asked Greene to sit out of the race after The Associated Press reported he faces a felony charge, which stems from a University of South Carolina student's complaint that he showed her a pornographic website, then talked about going to her room at a university dorm.
"I've recovered. I really have," said that student, Camille McCoy.
McCoy said she wanted to speak out after learning that the man charged in the case is now a Senate candidate.
"I felt it was my duty to let the rest of South Carolina know who's running. You should all be on the lookout because who knows what he wants to do," McCoy said.
But Greene insists he's staying in the race.
"I am a legitimate candidate," Greene said Thursday, in response to questions about Clyburn's investigation request. "There's no need for it."
Arriving for interviews at a Columbia television station Thursday afternoon in a dark suit, driven in a hired car, Greene marked a stark contrast to the day before. On Wednesday, Greene greeted a reporter at his childhood home in Manning, clad in a T-shirt and sweat pants.
Greene would be required to report campaign spending to the Federal Election Commission, which regulates federal campaign finances. But the cash for the filing fee itself is given directly by candidates to the state party they wish to represent, and that money isn't subject to FEC filing requirements, officials with the agency said Thursday.
That answer doesn't satisfy Clyburn, who suspects there is more to be learned about Greene's pursuit.
"He's been paid to stay in it, by somebody," Clyburn said. "I just think this is a ploy by someone to dishonor and embarrass the Democratic Party."
Joel Sawyer, executive director of South Carolina's Republican Party, said Clyburn's allegations are evidence that the state's Democrats know they can't defeat DeMint.
"The Democratic Party is grasping at straws, and making absurd accusations to cover for their laughable incompetence in vetting candidates," Sawyer said. "That being said, if they're not even going to bother doing basic things like checking to see if their candidates have pending felony charges, we're feeling pretty doggone good about November already."
On Thursday, NewsChannel 36 reporter Rad Berky knocked on the door of the home where Greene lives with his father in Manning, S.C.
A Democratic Party activist from Manning, Henry King, who is also a friend of Greene's father, stopped by the house too, hoping to get some answers from Greene.
"I guess politically, people are doing whatever they can to straighten out this mess. I really don't know what to say at this point," King said as he waited outside, hoping Greene would answer the door.
Most Manning residents had no idea Greene was even running, including another longtime family friend, Isaac Mitchum, who voted for Greene, only after seeing his name on the ballot.
Mitchum said he did not know about the felony charge and said it might have changed the way he voted. "But I'd never heard of it," he said. "Far as I know they are fine family people."
Just when you thought South Carolina politics couldn't get any sleazier, Democratic leaders begged their surprise Senate nominee to quit yesterday upon learning he's facing charges of flashing porn at a coed.
Alvin Greene, 32 and unemployed, shocked the Palmetto State's political establishment Tuesday night when he came out of nowhere - he didn't even have campaign signs - to beat well-funded fellow Democrat Vic Rawl, an ex-judge.
But Greene's win - credited to the race's low interest and his higher position on the alphabetized ballot - apparently wasn't the only shocker the Army vet had in store.
Court records show Greene was arrested in November and charged with showing obscene Internet photos to a University of South Carolina co-ed, a Felony. He has yet to enter a plea or be indicted.
The revelation prompted the leader of the state Democratic party yesterday to ask that Greene remove himself from the race.
"I did not do this lightly, as I believe strongly that the Democratic voters of this state have the right to select our nominee," party chairwoman Carol Fowler said.
"But this new information about Mr. Greene...would certainly have affected the decisions of many of those voters."
No chance, said Greene, who yesterday vowed to forge ahead with his extreme-longshot campaign to unseat popular Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
"The Democratic Party has chosen their nominee, and we have to stand behind their choice," Greene told the Associated Press at his home in Manning. "The people have spoken. We need to be pro-South Carolina, not anti-Greene."
ABC News reported on another skeleton: Greene was involuntarily booted out of the Army in August after a 13-year military career that included time as an intelligence specialist and later a unit supply specialist.
He declined to discuss details of his discharge, telling ABC only, "Things just weren't working."
In the court case, Greene is charged with "disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity" in Richland County, S.C., and could face up to five years in prison.
Neither Greene's attorney nor a woman listed as the victim immediately returned messages to the AP.
Felons can serve in federal office, but the U.S. House or Senate could vote to expel any member deemed unfit to serve.
Voters had just weathered one of dirtiest primaries in the history of South Carolina history - already a national leader in low-down mud-slinging and the home of Gov. Mark Sanford, who weepily confessed last year he went AWOL from his job for an extra-marital affair.
Vikki Haley, 38 - a Republican running vying to replace Sanford - had to fend off two separate allegations that she cheated on her National Guard hubby.
Voters weren't convinced: Haley crushed her three male opponents, although her failure to crack the 50% mark means she'll now have to survive a June 22 run-off.
Earlier in the week, Elaine Marshall's campaign delivered a memo that said there was no way that Cal Cunningham could win the June 22 primary runoff.
It stated, among other things: "In a run-off election, Cal Cunningham has no path to victory."
Now, reports Rob Christensen, the Cunningham campaign has issued its own competing memo entitled: "Dewey Defeats Truman Redux?"
The memo, from Cunningham spokesman Jared Leopold, notes that the Marshall campaign had earlier said it would win the first primary with more than 40 percent of the vote. And it points to a new poll by Public Policy Polling that shows the runoff to be a dead heat.
"For the second time in as many weeks, Elaine Marshall's campaign boldly declared victory – only to be immediately brought down to earth by inconvenient facts," said the Cunningham campaign.
"While Elaine Marshall's campaign chooses to take a second premature victory lap, Cal Cunningham will continue to focus on the issues that matter to North Carolina voters," wrote Leopold.
North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and former state Sen. Cal Cunningham will debate at WRAL before the June 22 Democratic primary runoff election determines which of them will challenge Republican Richard Burr for his seat in the U.S. Senate.
The debate will air live on WRAL-TV and WRAL.com Thursday, June 10, at 7 p.m.
Neither candidate drew the 40 percent of votes necessary in the May 4 primary to avoid a runoff. Marshall led the six-candidate field with 36 percent, while Cunningham came in second with 27 percent.
In a statement, Burr said he recognized he had a long road ahead.
"I am honored to have received my party’s nomination today," said Burr. "However, this is just the beginning and it will be a long road to November.
I have a strong record in the Senate fighting for issues important to North Carolinians. It will be up to North Carolinians to decide if I have upheld my commitment and allow me to continue my service to this state."
In an e-mail message N.C. Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer asked Republicans to help Burr "fight the misguided Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda".
"As you know, Washington Democrats will pour millions of dollars into our state to try to defeat Senator Burr," Fetzer wrote.
Elaine Marshall has taken a large lead over Cal Cunningham and Ken Lewis in the primary for the Democratic nomination to face incumbent Richard Burr in the state's U.S. Senate race.
With 29 percent of the vote counted, Marshall has 38 percent of the vote, just a couple of points short of the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
Cunningham, the candidate backed by much of the party's leadership, has 27 percent, and Lewis has 17 percent.
Some Chicagoans grouse that President Obama has reneged on promises to return home regularly. Midway through a desultory, prickly United States Senate debate last week, I realized he might need to get back to help save his old seat for Democrats.
It’s almost as though the seat was covered by a secret term-limits restriction. Since 1992 we’ve had Alan J. Dixon, Carol Moseley Braun, Peter G. Fitzgerald, Mr. Obama and now Roland W. Burris, whose mediocrity and conceit helped make his selection by then-Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich so unseemly. Confronting doubts about his candor and fund-raising prospects, Mr. Burris opted not to run for a full term, though he can joyously engrave “U.S. Senator, 2009-2010” on the large mausoleum he has already built for himself in Oak Woods Cemetery.
This leaves four Democrats in the Feb. 2 primary and, since Mr. Obama couldn’t persuade the state’s attorney general, Lisa Madigan, to run and surely win, it presents an unexpectedly problematic general election match against Representative Mark Steven Kirk, a moderate Republican. Only one of the Democrats has run for elective office, and three can thank inheritance and other family largess for making their candidacies possible.
The debate spotlight was on Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer and front-runner, who is clearly improving as a candidate but given to a too-slick-by-half, frat-boy superficiality à la Mr. Blagojevich. David Hoffman, a nervy former federal prosecutor and former City of Chicago inspector general, is razor-sharp and self-confident to the point of projecting arrogance.
Cheryle Jackson, president of the Chicago Urban League and a former spokeswoman for Mr. Blagojevich, is Carol Braun Lite, lacking the former senator’s street savvy and knowledge of politics. And Jacob Meister, an unknown lawyer, has family riches, campaign offices statewide and, I presume, a hope that his opponents are all kidnapped by Election Day.
Mr. Giannoulias’s plan turns on name recognition and money. As he did for Mr. Obama’s presidential run, he has so aggressively tapped a Greek-American base that his Federal Election Commission filing resembles the Athens phone directory: Konstantin Alexakis, Baltimore; Evangelos Ambatielos, Los Angeles; Nicholas Angelides, St. Louis; Demetrios Panoushis, Elmhurst, Ill., to name a few.
Mr. Hoffman, a Yale graduate and former law clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, must be hoping the image of truth-seeking prosecutor combines with a Giannoulias meltdown. Mrs. Jackson’s slogan could be, “I’m black and a woman and they’re not.” As for Mr. Meister, who barely registers in independent polling, perhaps the visibility at least will help him find some new law clients.
The breakfast gathering at the Union League Club heard rhetorical spitball fights between Mr. Giannoulias and Mr. Hoffman that did not reveal any larger political vision. Lost in the debate was any convincing discussion of the day’s predominant economic fears.
Mr. Hoffman so often restated the doubts about creaky Broadway Bank, the Giannoulias family-run institution in trouble over bad real estate loans, that the next debate should be held in the bank’s lobby at 5960 North Broadway. Instead of a moderator, bring auditors from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The state treasurer is lucky that Broadway Bank’s disarray became truly apparent only after his election and exit from the bank.
But what was most notable was Mr. Giannoulias’s needless and peevish counterattack against Mr. Hoffman for having “hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in stock with these big Wall Street banks that are protected by TARP money and taxpayers, and he’s now using that money to fund his campaign.” It was confusing and unconvincing.
Who cares about the investment issue? said Dion Miller Perez, an unemployed father of three who had worked for a nonprofit community agency. Mike Flannery , the ace WBBM-Ch. 2 political reporter, had brought Mr. Perez to the debate as a two-legged, one-person focus group, and Mr. Perez indicated that corruption was not as relevant as the economy to a prospective primary voter.
The treasurer was a no-show for a promised postdebate appearance before reporters. That left newsies to deal with a wacky accusation from Mr. Meister, who is gay, that Mr. Hoffman is anti-gay for mentioning that he’s the only parent in the race.
Regardless, if Mr. Obama still cares about a filibuster-proof Senate majority after he’s done with health care and fixing the global climate, he might want to return home, have dinner with Oprah and work for whomever Democrats pick to run against Mr. Kirk.
If it’s Mr. Hoffman in an upset, his strength may be that he’s least likely to embarrass the state. Then, again, Mr. Burris has set the bar so low that only a professional limbo dancer could get under it.
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