Democratic senatorial candidate Alvin Greene has obfuscated on more than one issue since he won the primary to take on U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. Thursday, news of more than one subject has helped clear up exactly what Greene is doing and what he has done, perhaps lifting the veil on the enigma from Manning. Those were who is helping his campaign and what exactly went down during his military service. True to form, neither story is generic or boring.
According to a story in the Free Times, Greene has hired a consulting firm out of Los Angeles called The Warren Group, headed up by Donna Warren, who sued the CIA and the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly being complicit in introduction and distribution of crack through poor neighborhoods in L.A. Greene’s man on the ground in Manning from the firm is a gentleman named Felipe Farley, a patent attorney and graduate of Harvard Law. So there’s that. It’ll be interesting to see where the money is coming from to pay these people and how much is going out.
As far as Greene’s military history goes, the Associated Press ran with a story that pretty much describes Greene as little else than a total fuckup. After serving in the Air National Guard for seven years, he went active duty in the U.S. Air Force for three years.
In a performance report two years later, Greene received adequate marks for performing tasks assigned to him, complying with standards and training requirements. But Greene’s reviewer marked him as an ineffective leader who lacked organization and was “unable to express thoughts clearly.”
Greene is “usually capable of handling mundane tasks with supervision” but is “not able to adapt to any changes to daily routine,” the reviewer wrote, also noting that Greene had received multiple disciplinary actions for failing to perform his duties.
Greene was also written up for posting sensitive information on a military Internet server, a mistake that resulted in a three-day work stoppage. Records showed Greene was kept at Shaw while the rest of his unit deployed after leadership “recognized his inability to contribute to the wartime mission.”
There’s really not much more to take away from that. He left the Air Force, joined the Army National Guard and then active duty Army before being forced out. The guy could barely do anything without being led by the hand. That’s sad. But hey, that’s only one side of the story. What’s Greene got to say? He’s got to have some great defense, right? Some way of explaining all of this?
“Those folks are ridiculous and yes and they only promote the terrorists and the communists and I haven’t gotten a promotion since I graduated from college and that’s just what I’m saying,” Greene said. “This is why we need to have things done differently. This is why we need to overhaul the military. We need get rid of these folks.”
Just another day for Team Greene.
It ain’t easy out there for a Democrat. The leadership isn’t leading, candidates aren’t stepping forward to run for office and all too often, party members are reduced to delaying maneuvers in the General Assembly. And then there’s the Alvin Greene debacle, showing no chance of slowing down while entering into its second month of mirth for some and misery for others. The miserables, they keep looking for someone else beside Greene (and the Green Party candidate — it’s all anti-Green(e) over there).
The last best chance was likely Linda Ketner. When her former staffers and volunteers began canvassing he state for signatures to put her on the ballot, she seemed interested and intrigued. But when it finally came down to it, she told her erstwhile followers to lay down their clipboards. She wasn’t going to expend the time and capital needed to fight U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and his gigantic warchest. But Thomas Nast didn’t depict Dems as donkeys for nothing. Stubbornness ruled the day for a few in the Lowcountry, and they reeled in their line and cast it back into the water.
They were looking for an academic at the Charleston School of Law. Alex Sanders? He did mount a decent campaign against Lindsey Graham in a bad Democratic year. No. They went to — who? — professor Constance Anastopoulo. She is originally from Virginia, has a firm in Charleston, went to school at Virginia and North Carolina, appears to be an excellent trial lawyer and according to ratemyprofessors.com, her students like her. We haven’t heard of her, and she has the online profile of a General Assembly candidate, so an independent run for U.S. Senate with any legitimate chance is probably a bit too much at this time.
She seemed to agree, and said in a statement, “While I am flattered by all of the phone calls and e-mails, I am fully committed to my work and my students at the Charleston School of Law.” Alright, guys. Y’all couldn’t find serious candidates for U.S. Senate, the First District and the Third District, Fourth District, secretary of state and got lucky when two decent candidates — Matthew Richardson and Robert Barber — got into the attorney general and comptroller general races. Yet, you keep beating the bushes like madmen looking for a replacement candidate.
It’s too late, kids. Should have been working on 2010 right after the 2008 races were over.
The clouds parted, the sun shone down and angels sang Tuesday morning when it became known far and wide that Carol Fowler is stepping down as chairwoman of the S.C. Democratic Party. It’s odd to see a party chair that doesn’t bust their ass, or whip others’, to recruit good candidates and fill up the party coffers, but then that’s been Fowler’s legacy as the head of the SCDP. In 2008, when U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham was vulnerable and it was a big Democratic year, was she able to get a legitimate candidate to run? No. This year, she was seemed content for the party to not come close to fill out the slate and to allow two nobodies vie for the chance to lose to U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint.
It’s actually the flubbing of the Senate Democratic primary that has led to the end of her time at the top. She says that’s not the case, but really — after several years of bollixing up the works, the foul-ups this time are putting an end to state Democrats’ frustrations.
For a few weeks, some Democratic fingers have been pointed at the party’s leaders, and Fowler specifically, for not doing more to prevent Greene from running and for not bolstering the candidacy of his opponent, Vic Rawl, a Charleston County Council member and former circuit judge. Most of the criticism has taken place quietly as party members focus on getting their party’s nominee for governor, Vincent Sheheen, elected.
O, Lord. This one paragraph shows the typical short-sightedness of some in the party. The point wasn’t to prevent Greene from running or endorsing someone else in the primary. It was to help get competent, qualified and well-financed people to decide to run for higher office, particularly at the top of the ticket.
The funny part about all this is that despite Republicans loving the schadenfreude of watching the SCDP trip over itself on a regular basis, we’ve also talked to some elephant types who miss challenging battles with the Dems. After all, with a Democratic Party in atrophy, the GOP is left to do what’s been l’habituel over the past few years — fight among itself. There’s a longing for the administration of Dick Harpootlian. Then again, everyone misses Dick — he’s a one-man news machine, a wartime consigliere par excellence.
If the people making the decisions are smart, they’ll choose someone who can recruit, raise money and go at the Republicans. Then maybe we’ll have general elections that are actually interesting, instead of watching the state GOP split in the political mitosis that always happens when one party is way more powerful than the other.
Linda Ketner, who came within a few points of an upset win over U.S. Rep. Henry Brown in 2008, followed up her refusal to run for the First District this year with an announcement to not seek the U.S. Senate as an independent candidate. A few weeks ago, a couple people who were staffers on her Congressional campaign began a drive to gather the 10,000 signatures necessary to put her on the ballot to face U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and Democratic nominee Alvin Greene. The effort was seen as an attempt by disaffected Democrats to put a legitimate candidate opposite DeMint. Late June, the signature drive appeared to be going gangbusters.
With 10 days left until the deadline, though, Ketner released a statement saying that she will not run, and asking people who are collecting signatures to stop the process.
Dear Friends,
I am deeply grateful to the hundreds of you who worked toward petitioning me as an Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate and to the thousands who have already signed the petition!
When asked to consider such a candidacy, I agreed to think about it because I understand and respect the frustration and disappointment of the Senate primary, and of the general sad-state of government. I share it. We deserve better.
A key reason we were able to run a competitive 2008 campaign for Congress in the First District was you, our caring and engaged supporters. You gave your time, talents and resources freely and enthusiastically as you are doing now in the petition drive.
Also essential to our 48% showing was that we had the time, team and money to run that race very well. During the weeks since the Petition Initiative was presented to me, I have exhaustively considered all the ways that we might mount a similarly strong campaign in the short 3 1/2 months left to us. Sadly, I have concluded that at this late date, it’s just not possible to assemble the team and resources we need to mount the effective campaign we all want.
Bottom line: yes, we deserve – and desperately need – better government, but a last minute campaign without essential resources won’t get us that outcome.
And so, with great appreciation and humility, I thank those who participated in this initiative, and announce I will not accept a petition candidacy. I have asked that the drive be stopped.
I know this is disheartening to those who worked so hard, but I hope you’ll appreciate that you did something important.
At a time when people talk endlessly and seldom take action to right a political system that no longer operates in the best interest of the American people, you took action.
Our country needs you, our state needs you, to keep working for a more agile, more focused government led by elected representatives who are motivated to put Americans first, smart enough to find solutions, and who are not courtesans to special interests.
This election, I hope that you will find candidates for whom you have respect and help send them to Columbia or Washington.
I, with you, will continue to work on behalf of a responsive and responsible government; and will hope for future opportunities to serve our state.
With gratitude and respect,
Linda
That’s that. Down-ballot Democrats are not going to appreciate this news, considering that while Ketner would lose her name ID, cash and campaigning would bring more Dems to the polls and influence marginal races. In a year when they didn’t need another hit, it just got a little bit harder for the donkey types in South Carolina.
More or less, what was expected to happen in the Republican primary runoffs for South Carolina’s Congressional seats did happen. Rep. Tim Scott is all but assured of being the next congressman from the First District with his thorough dispatching of Paul Thurmond, Rep. Jeff Duncan won a relatively close race against Richard Cash in the Third District, Solicitor Trey Gowdy took out U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis in the Fourth and Jim Pratt probably won the right to get waxed by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn in the Sixth.
Everybody’s in a lather about Scott being only a few months away from being the only black Republican in Congress, and while that is noteworthy, there’s not much there beyond pointing out the obvious. The story that is rattling around for us is what happened in the Fourth District. Inglis spent three terms in the House in the ’90s, and another three after U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint decided to run for Fritz Hollings‘ open seat. What happened?
For one thing, Gowdy laid down a whuppin’, 71-29. That’s not just a big win, it’s a joke. A laugher. How did Inglis so completely alienate the people who sent him to Washington six times? When he left his seat to run against Hollings in 1998, Inglis was every bit the rock-ribbed, hard-right conservative. He was going around saying things like “only Christians should marry Christians.” Even in South Carolina, we’re pretty sure religion isn’t a relationship dealbreaker for most, but it’s the Upstate — you go where the voters are.
In the past few years, though, he’s turned into a different character. Inglis developed some relatively moderate positions. And that straight killed him. Inglis said that he was trying to represent all of the people. While laudable, you have to get elected, first, before you can represent anyone. And everybody isn’t voting in the Republican primary in the Fourth District, much less the runoff. Just like that, it was all over.
Former Congressional candidate Linda Ketner admits on her Facebook page that she didn’t hear about the petition campaign to get her on the ballot until late Tuesday. But if the vibe we’re getting is real, then she may well be riding into the U.S. Senate race this year on a wave of signatures. With still-relatively unknown cipher Alvin Greene carrying the Democratic nomination, a lot of state Democrats have been casting about for someone, anyone else. Even on Saturday, stories were still coming out about lack of party support for Greene.
The money people behind Ketner’s close race against U.S. Rep. Henry Brown in 2008, former finance director Doug Warner and former treasurer Tasha Gandy, are going deep into dissatisfaction among donkey types with the way the Senate race currently shapes up. And the hour of reckoning is quick at hand. At least 10,000 viable signatures have to be delivered by July 15. According to the Charleston City Paper, “[Warner] said [Ketner] promised to give it serious consideration if the group was able to find the 10,000 signatures necessary to get her name on the ballot in November.”
It should come as no surprise that Ketner has less of a shot at beating U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint as an independent than even if she had decided to run and win the Democratic primary. First, some people are going to vote straight ticket, and those votes are lost. Second, DeMint is the next-closest thing to unbeatable. What the Ketner effect could do is help down-ballot Democrats, especially the statewide races. Otherwise, this is just an academic exercise by the Democrats, and Republicans have nothing to worry about.
This week, even after protestations from high-level Democrats and the Vic Rawl campaign, Alvin Greene is your Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, ready to give incumbent U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint his largest election victory in years. Sure, all he had when he campaigned for the nomination were a few 8.5×11 flyers, and won the race from his dad’s living room sofa. And even though his campaign — can it even be called that? — has dropped the ball on the marketing side, those wags in the CafePress marketplace have stepped into the void. Now you can get your own Greene shirts and stickers, including the infamous “Greene Family Reunion” shirt.
SHIRTS
STICKERS
If it’s some weirdo fringe candidate with no shot, count on the Free Times government section to find that person and do a 800-word (or less!) profile on them. This week, it was the cipher known as Alvin Greene. He’s 32, recently got out of the Army, unemployed, and living at his dad’s place in rural Clarendon County. For whatever reason, he showed up at S.C. Democratic Party headquarters in March looking to file for the U.S. Senate. But that’s not the weird part.
The strange bit is that he showed up with the $10,400 check for the filing fee. As a personal check. When told it had to come from a campaign account, he evidently went to a bank and quickly came back with a check that could be accepted. Mind you, nobody’s beating U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. Not now, not ever, unless he gets caught in some epic scandal. The man’s got a gigantic war chest, and the best person the Dems could throw at him, Inez Tenenbaum, couldn’t beat him when he didn’t have the added advantage of incumbency. But that’s Vic Rawl‘s issue to deal with.
What’s so weird about Greene’s effort is the already mentioned circumstances of his life. He says he got the money by saving it up while in the service. Let’s process that for a second. Whether you make six figures or a recently discharged, unemployed soldier, and have zero name recognition or political experience, handing over 10 large to run for Senate is, ah, insane. Then there’s this:
Though he says he is running, and running to win, Greene has not taken the steps one might expect from an active candidate — some of them required by law.
He has not filed with the Secretary of the Senate, according to its Washington, D.C. office. Nor has he filed any disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission, which the FEC requires by law.
No campaign signs appear around the area where he lives, and Greene admits he hasn’t taken in any donations.
When the South Carolina Democratic Party held its convention in April, Greene did not show up.
Reached by phone May 12, and asked how he thought his campaign was going, Greene said, “So far, so good.”
Naturally, this “phantom candidate” brings up two thoughts. One is that he’s certifiably goddamn insane and needs to be put in a padded cell. The other is that he was given the money to run to, we suppose, sabotage Rawl’s campaign. The first is self-evident, but the second can be expanded upon a little bit, which we will try to do here.
Like a detective running down a murder, we look to the usual suspects, which would be the Republicans. But there’s not one way in hell they’d do anything like giving this guy the cash to be on the ballot — at least, nobody closely associated with the Party or the DeMint campaign. As we already said, DeMint’s going to win this in a walk. No reason to get all shady. And from what we understand, the people in positions to do things like that are, well, steadfastly opposed to doing things like that. So they’re out. We look to the other side and say, “Why would a Democrat shell out this cash?” Doesn’t make any sense, so that’s out, too.
This is how we see it: It’s like one of those things that gets a college football program into serious probation with the NCAA. Somebody with loyalties, but no connections to a particular side, and a shit-ton of money, makes life a little interesting. Probably, some wealthy conservative with no real ties to the people that matter decided to burn some money and have some fun with this Senate race. Why? Why do ridiculously wealthy people do anything? Obviously, this little gambit fell through, which is why there aren’t any signs or the proper papers filed.
And that’s where the juicy story is. Finding out who this rich freakshow is and listening to them explain how the idea came about, how the guy was chosen, how the money was doled out and how the plan fell apart. But like so many great stories, it’s likely never to come to light.
If there’s a Democrat in this state that is actually optimistic about the party’s chances in Congressional elections, they’re probably on drugs. Wednesday, the Democratic contender against U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, pulled out of the race unexpectedly. We thought Chad McGowan was going to go all the way as the sacrificial donkey, but he made the right decision.
In a statement released during the afternoon, he said:
I’ve come to the conclusion that now is the wrong time for me to mount a successful campaign for the United States Senate. The demands of a young family place a premium on every minute. There is nothing more important to me than my wife and three small children. In order to fulfill my duties as a husband and a father, I’ll be leaving the race for United States Senate effective immediately. A few years from now, the kids will be older and in a phase of life that can tolerate the demands of a successful run. In the meantime, I’d like to thank my supporters for standing tall with me thus far, but ask that they understand that my kids come first and they need me at home. I am still very much committed to the cause of fixing our broken political system, and will be fighting from the sidelines to defeat Jim DeMint and others who think South Carolina’s best days are behind us.
We thought McGowan never had a chance. Success for him, in our book, would be getting the spread under 10 points, and even that was unlikely. As of the last disclosures, he had about $91,000 in the bank, compared to DeMint’s $3 million-plus. Facing a 33-1 money disadvantage and running against a popular Republican in a conservative state in a Republican cycle all added up to epic failure.
If we were McGowan, we’d sit out this cycle, too.
The past week has seen some interesting polls put into the field, one by the Republican-leaning Rasmussen and one by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling. Depending on who you believe and what you believe, you’ll come out from looking at the polls with your own idea about South Carolina’s U.S. senators.
The Rasmussen poll took a look at the dichotomy between U.S. Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. For almost five years, it’s been pretty clear that the Palmetto State’s representatives in the nation’s most deliberative body are fairly different fellows. You can explain it this way and that, but it comes down to this: DeMint won’t compromise with Democrats. Graham will. Everything beyond that is spin for whichever side you support.
According to the poll, which has a 4.5 percent margin of error and a sample of 500 people, 38 percent want the S.C. Republican Party to be more like DeMint. About 32 percent want it to be more like Graham. The balance doesn’t know or doesn’t care. The favorability/unfavorability ratings for both men are about the same — which is to say, they’re both a little more than 60/30 positive, with the difference between the senators being within the margin of error.
According to Real Clear Politics, that looks good for DeMint keeping his seat in next year’s election.
DeMint’s favorable rating in this survey is 63 percent, while 25 percent have an unfavorable view. That number is certainly in the range where incumbents can be considered safe.
But hey, PPP is giving Democrats some hope. That poll had a margin of error of 4.1 percent and a sample size of 570 people. The rub here is that President Barack Obama, DeMint and Graham are all below 50 percent approval (O: 46, D: 44, G: 43). The real difference is that Obama’s negatives are pegged at 49 while the GOP senators have much lower negative ratings (D: 29, G: 35). Also, support for the Democratic health care plan is just getting hammered here, 53-35 against.
Democrats looking for a positive outlook could play up the 47-38 advantage DeMint has over a generic Democratic opponent. That gets donkey types breaking out their “The Candidate” DVDs to analyze the McKay-Jarmon race. We’re still extremely suspect of any chance a Democrat has of defeating DeMint next year. The “generic Democrat” number is bolstered because Democrats really don’t like DeMint, and there’s an anti-incumbency vibe going down (like ’92, ’94, ’06 and ’08).
Unless there’s a seriously game-changing event in this race, we’re still putting the over/under at DeMint by 10.
