Unknown Dem wins primary: Hey! You can't do that!

[01101010]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_SENATE_SC?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-08-23-12-16

 

Some unknown puts his name on the ballot in SC and actually wins. Now the Democratic Party is shitting themselves... Guess what I am going to do in 2012?

[Khaldun]

Well, since the Dems weren't going to win the general election for that seat even if they nominated Jesus Christ, I suppose they should just disown the guy and relax about it. Though I have to say that as the press scrutinizes Greene, he's turning out to be very much NOT the guy you want associated with your party. Not that the Republicans are short of similarly unsavory or unsettling folks being pushed by Tea Party activists atm.

[LK]

Their overreaction, calls for inquiry and suspecting a plot has me put more faith into this guy than the people accusing him of illicit behavior.

That's some very verbal and public smearing of a character there for doing nothing more than perhaps being somebody to vote for other than the guy people must hate.

[01101010]

Who the fuck cares what the democratic party wants?  Now if this guy wins the general election... 

[Teleku]

The problem with that is that he's facing a possible 5 year jail term.

[naum]

The problem with that is that he's facing a possible 5 year jail term.

Not a felon yet…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/09/AR2010060903744.html

Court records show Greene was arrested in November and charged with showing obscene Internet photos to a University of South Carolina student, then talking about going to her room at a university dorm.

Charged with disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity, Greene could face up to five years in prison. He has yet to enter a plea or be indicted.

[01101010]

I'd say this is probably on the low end of the scale of appalling things (of a sexual nature) that can be linked to gov't officials.

[Mrbloodworth]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_SENATE_SC?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-06-08-23-12-16

 

Some unknown puts his name on the ballot in SC and actually wins. Now the Democratic Party is shitting themselves... Guess what I am going to do in 2012?

Good for him.

[Paelos]

Hilarious. Another reason I wished these things would happen in my state.

[pxib]

I'm guessing it's a combination of Rawl's failure to energize the base and the fact that it said "veteran" in Greene's candidate description. Neither man was going to win... together they received only 170,000 votes. Jim DeMint, the Republican candidate, got more than 400,000. In my county, the House of Representatives seat is so solidly Democrat that Republicans have actually stopped funding candidates. For a few thousand dollars I could run as the only Republican on the ticket. It would amuse and bewilder a few of my friends, but it wouldn't help my chances in the general election. Sour grapes from the Rawl camp are just their frustration with how anything remotely resembling victory actually is.

Open candidate registration: It's all fun and games until somebody loses a primary.

[Merusk]

Just heard on NPR that the Dems also suspect he's a plant because he filed as destitute back in November to get a public defender, but then came up with the $10k required to file as a candidate or the senate race.  Apparently the prosecutor in his criminal trial will be bringing that up in the next few days, presumably to get the PD dismissed from his defense.

[dusematic]

Anyway you slice it, this dude is a complete sketchball.

[Morat20]

Just heard on NPR that the Dems also suspect he's a plant because he filed as destitute back in November to get a public defender, but then came up with the $10k required to file as a candidate or the senate race.  Apparently the prosecutor in his criminal trial will be bringing that up in the next few days, presumably to get the PD dismissed from his defense.

Well, in all fairness -- it's because he initially wanted to pay in cash, then came back later with a check of the "I just opened my bank account with this in cash" variety".

And, of course, the fact that interviews with him kinda paint him as....uninterested. Crazy people will put down 10k on a race in a primary, might even win. But usually those people have a reason to run, and they'll talk about it. At length. Like how, I dunno, we should be on the Gold Standard or how the government is causing cancer or controlling our brains with flouridated water.

This guy? Doesn't. Doesn't want to be on TV. Doesn't have a website (it just points to the Democratic party's website). Hasn't filed any FEC stuff, even though he's unemployed and obviously got money from somewhere. Doesn't talk about issues. Doesn't want to talk about issues. Doesn't really seem to actually want to be running.

It's South Carolina, and they're fucked up even by the South's standards, but this guy is a puzzle even for them. I doubt he's a plant, and I suspect he won simply because his name came first on the ballot. :)

[Grimwell]

I don't understand why this isn't being celebrated here.

He's clearly not a "real" candidate by modern standards, but this does show that anyone has a shot. Even the unqualified.

Further, could he screw it up any worse than a career politician ? Even if he didn't vote for any legislation at all... that would be an improvement!

[pxib]

No he doesn't have "a shot". He got a quarter of the votes that his Republican opponent did, he has no charisma, and performs poorly on TV. It may be democracy in action, but it's a bad example which highlights a broken system, not a shining story of positive politics in action.

[Morat20]

Further, could he screw it up any worse than a career politician ? Even if he didn't vote for any legislation at all... that would be an improvement!

You mean the guy that's under felony charges for sneaking into a woman's dorm and showing them porn? (I believe that's what he did. Lucky for him, they were college women -- so legal).

Yeah, somehow I can see him not being an improvement.

And no, he doesn't have a shot. Not that any Democrat had MUCH of a shot, but basically the GOP guy has an absolutely clear field. Because his opponent is an unknown, dishonarbly discharged, living at home, under indictment for a felony (a sex-related felony) and isn't actually campaigning. I think a corpse would be a more threatening candidate.

I have no idea why the GOP guy would bother planting anyone, since his reelection was pretty likely anyways, but it IS South Carolina. They've been weirder than normal this cycle.

[Sir T]

"He's a plant!" is a pretty standard accusation when something unexpected happens. Both sides accused Sam Joe the Plumber of bieng a plant at the time, if you remember.

[01101010]

Where have you gone Andrew Jackson?

edit: god damn "h" key.

[caladein]

I'm guessing it's a combination of Rawl's failure to energize the base and the fact that it said "veteran" in Greene's candidate description.

A similar thing happened in a race for a board seat for Orange Unified School District.  The guy, Steve Rocco, submitted a description of "Educator/Writer" even though he hadn't taught in 20 years.  Doesn't campaign or go to any meetings beforehand.

Guy gets on the board and is a complete crazy man.  Doesn't show up to meetings a lot and when he does it's all about people wanting to kill him or disclosing closed session information.

[Khaldun]

I am the last guy in the world to turn to conspiracy theories, but there is something really deeply weird about this story once you see the press reports on the guy himself. He has no discernible political positions, doesn't want to talk to reporters about anything, barely seems to know what office he's running for, and there's no way to explain how he came up with the filing fee nor does he seem to want enlighten anyone about that. Normally this kind of "ordinary Joe gets on the ballot and by some miracle wins" ends up pointing to someone who either a deranged ideologue or to a kind of decent guy who decided to throw his hat in the ring because he was irritated about some policy or some experience he'd had, and in both cases, those tend to people who very  much want to talk to the press and make the most of the limelight. This guy doesn't seem to have any reason at all for blowing $10k on this, and he was someone who didn't have that money to blow in the first place.

[NowhereMan]

You mean the guy that's under felony charges for sneaking into a woman's dorm and showing them porn? (I believe that's what he did. Lucky for him, they were college women -- so legal).

Actually I think he was in the library looking at porn, called a female student over and showed it to her then started talking about going back to her room. At that point she got creeped the fuck out and called the cops. He does seem a really weird candidate though, he seems like someone who had 10 grand they wanted to get rid of quickly and didn't want to just throw it away. Thing is I can't think of any reason you'd want to get rid of the money, wouldn't want to spend it and wouldn't want to burn it.

[Mrbloodworth]

I don't understand why this isn't being celebrated here.

He's clearly not a "real" candidate by modern standards, but this does show that anyone has a shot. Even the unqualified.

Apparently not.

[01101010]

I guess he never received the memo about the Member's Only jackets being a serious requirement.

[Koyasha]

You mean the guy that's under felony charges for sneaking into a woman's dorm and showing them porn? (I believe that's what he did. Lucky for him, they were college women -- so legal).

Actually I think he was in the library looking at porn, called a female student over and showed it to her then started talking about going back to her room.

While I find this guy and this story quite weird, this part is what kinda bugs me, cause I keep going, 'how the hell is that a felony?'  Creepy and weird, yes, but a felony?  I don't even see anything that could be considered criminal there unless he threatened her or something.  At worst, a violation of library policy, to look at porn on their computer.

[naum]

You mean the guy that's under felony charges for sneaking into a woman's dorm and showing them porn? (I believe that's what he did. Lucky for him, they were college women -- so legal).

Actually I think he was in the library looking at porn, called a female student over and showed it to her then started talking about going back to her room. At that point she got creeped the fuck out and called the cops. He does seem a really weird candidate though, he seems like someone who had 10 grand they wanted to get rid of quickly and didn't want to just throw it away. Thing is I can't think of any reason you'd want to get rid of the money, wouldn't want to spend it and wouldn't want to burn it.

What about that "obscenity" charge?

One of the side bizarrenesses of the bizarre Alvin Greene senate nomination story is the 'obscenity' charge he was hit with late last year for allegedly showing a pornographic image to a college student at a college computer center. The facts of the case can certainly be construed as menacing or at least creepy (the context isn't entirely clear). But the law itself is one that is almost never enforced in this way. And the new facts that have emerged make it seem like the race of the two people involved may have played into the charge Greene was hit with.

[Morat20]

While I find this guy and this story quite weird, this part is what kinda bugs me, cause I keep going, 'how the hell is that a felony?'  Creepy and weird, yes, but a felony?  I don't even see anything that could be considered criminal there unless he threatened her or something.  At worst, a violation of library policy, to look at porn on their computer.

I'm wondering that now myself. I didn't really think about it when I was under the impression he'd snuck into someone's room. But that's more...sexual harassment-y, which while creepy and unwanted, isn't felony material -- especially when it's not involving employment. Kicking him out of the library, I can see. If he kept it up, you could add stalking-like charges, but....

Naum's probably right. It being SC, and him being creepy, I can see him getting hit with a charge that's normally not applied that way. Then again, some places routinely hit you with far worse charges then they expect to stick -- an unemployed man is probably looking pretty likely to be the plea bargaining type.

[01101010]

Naum's probably right. It being SC, and him being creepy and black, I can see him getting hit with a charge that's normally not applied that way. Then again, some places routinely hit you with far worse charges then they expect to stick -- an unemployed man is probably looking pretty likely to be the plea bargaining type.

You missed that part.

[Morat20]

You missed that part.

It took me three reads of what you quoted to realize I had forgotten to add the "and black" myself. So yeah, I did miss that part. :)

[Grimwell]

Y'all are no fun. 

"A shot" as defined by Grimwell when he used it above: HE GOT THROUGH THE FUCKING PRIMARY WHICH IS MORE THAN ANY OF US WOULD EXPECT IF WE FILED FOR ONE OF THE TOP TWO PARTIES.

Christ, get over yourselves and your over analyzing, conspiracy theorizing, no fun having business. It's not that damn serious.

Dude won't make it to office, but he's certainly doing better than I did last time I checked.

Also, let's move this thread, SB is far less fun with it here eh?

[Khaldun]

Have you seen the guy interviewed? Are you seriously saying, "Oh, hooray, that's fantastic, score one for the little guy!"  There are coma patients who could do a better job describing why they're running for US Senate.

[Mrbloodworth]

I am amazed any normal person got this far. That's not to say, he won't be burned alive.

[Righ]

He's not a normal person. He's a ne'er-do-well that somebody paid the $10,000 registration fee for. Until the source of his income is disclosed, we might as well assume that he's a Manchurian Candidate paid for by a sinister and shadowy organisation that is investing in him to undermine the system.

[01101010]

He's not a normal person. He's a ne'er-do-well that somebody paid the $10,000 registration fee for. Until the source of his income is disclosed, we might as well assume that he's a Manchurian Candidate paid for by a sinister and shadowy organisation that is investing in him to undermine the system.

Glenn Beck's plan is working perrrrrfectly. 

[pxib]

He's not a normal person. He's a ne'er-do-well that somebody paid the $10,000 registration fee for.

As much as I don't think the guy is a sincere politician, I can't figure out how he's worth $10,000 to anybody. The Senate seat was an easy win for the Republicans: They had a three to one vote advantage in the primary. Vic Rawl is an experienced but pedestrian Democrat without the strong public following that gave Fritz Hollings the incumbent advantage there as the state (and the South) has rumbled casually to the Right. DeMint beat the 2004 Democratic opponent for Hollings' seat in a nearly 60/40 landslide.

Yeah, it's weird that this bland Joe Nobody is the Democrat opposing DeMint for congress, but I don't think he'll be hammered into the ground at the polls much more soundly than Rawl would have been. Cui bono? If anybody has gotten $10,000 worth, it's Greene. Nothing else short of photogenic mass murder was going to get this guy on the national stage. There are cheaper ways to discredit candidate registration, and if Rawl were so effective a campaigner that the Republicans had to cheat to beat him then he would have won the primary anyway.

So I've changed my mind: If it weren't so weird, it wouldn't be news... and it says more about our 24-hour news cycle than about our politics. Serious Business is the perfect forum for it.

[Morat20]

So I've changed my mind: If it weren't so weird, it wouldn't be news... and it says more about our 24-hour news cycle than about our politics. Serious Business is the perfect forum for it.

That's pretty much the entirety of it. It's WEIRD. Where'd he get the money? Why did he decide to plunk down 10,400 dollars (a big sum for an unemployed guy, living with his parents, facing felony charges) on a run for a Democratic primary?

And then he doesn't act like he wants to run. Like he's upset he won. He doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't want to be on TV, acts like it's a pain in his ass and he just wishes it would all go away.

10,000 bucks is a lot of money. You don't just...register for a primary that requires that much of a fee (and try to pay in cash), if you don't have a really good reason for running. It might be a crazy one. But crazy or sane, you'd talk about it. 10k is...10k.

Only thing that makes sense is someone else gave him the money to register -- which would explain why he seems a bit annoyed that he won, and seems to have absolutely no interested in anything related to it. Who that person is and why? That's interesting. Obvious suspect is a Republican, but frankly it could just be a bored Bill Gates testing out his personal theories on how much voters can be swayed by ballot order.