South Carolina Democratic Primary: It's irrelevant if he was a plant or not

[rpannier]

The conspiracy theorists have come out to claim that Alvin Greene is a Republican Plant.
Let's say he was a Republican Plant -- so what?

The man didn't campaign, he did no fund raising, had no website -- He did NOTHING to try and win and yet he won

If this was a sneaky attempt by the Republicans to sneak in a ringer it has to be the worst attempt in history because no effort was made by Alvin Greene to get elected

Alvin Greene got 59% of the vote running against a former four-term state lawmaker.

The response from the South Carolina Democratic Party is he probably won because his name was first on the ballot
That speaks to a few serious and troubling questions
1. Do you really believe that a four term state rep lost because his name didn't come first on the ballot? (People know who the guy the Party is backing and they still didn't vote for him)

2. 59% to 41% is a rather large margin of victory for a guy who made no effort to get elected. What kind of analysis is the Party doing about their endorsement process? (Because it sounds like you endorsed an extremely weak candidate)

3. You want Mr Greene to withdraw from the race. Why should he? (He won) and If he did, who is the person you would be looking to, to run for that seat? (I hope you're not thinking of the guy who finished a distant second.)

I understand it is very difficult to be a Democrat running for a federal office or state-wide office in South Carolina and you do have my sympathies.
I am not knocking South Carolina because there are some very good Democrats in the state.
But the issue is not Alvin Greene and his election.
It shouldn't be "Was he a Republican plant?" because the guy won big by doing nothing

I hope the issue is "What can the Party do to get back into the game in South Carolina?"

I wish all the Democrats in South Carolina nothing but the best come November.
I will donate to the nominee for Governor

[Fuzz]

1. From what I've seen he seems like a dumb fuck.

[struggle4progress]

20. Then agin, DeMint ain't zactly no Einstein nither

[MineralMan]

25. They don't call him Dimwit for nothing...

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. felony?

[rpannier]

13. On that level it is an issue I agree

But there are people who are all worked up about him being a plant by the Republicans and they're trying to subvert the Democratic Primary.
I just don't see it with this guy -- He made zero effort to get elected
WTF pays 100000 to some guy to run for office who makes no effort?

That makes zero sense

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. According to the DU rules, we're now obligated to support him.

Or so I was told when I pointed out Blanche Lincoln's obvious theft the other day.

[The Straight Story]

5. Going to be interesting if Jeb Bush converts to a dem and runs for office

:rofl:

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. Don't give him (or the DLC) any ideas!

It's bad enough the DLC'ers on this board are treating Crist like a "Democrat" and openly shilling for him over the actual Democrat in the race (kinda like they did in the Connecticut Senate race of 2006.)

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Uh oh.

Then a whole lot of us are in trouble... x(

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8532884&mesg_id=8532884

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. Be sure to vote in my poll on this topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8533158 :evilgrin:

[Rhiannon12866]

19. Yikes!

Looks like you're on the "naughty" list, too... :hi:

[hlthe2b]

4. Two words: Open Primary...

This is what happens when Rethugs can cross over to choose the Dem's candidate.

I fear California may suddenly wake up to this fact after passing their own ballot initiative.

[customerserviceguy]

16. How do the ballots work in SC?

Can a voter pick a Democrat in Race A, and a Rethuglican in Race B?

As I understand it, someone picks either a Democratic ballot or a Republican one, and their choices are limited to the candidates filing with those parties.

Yes, Jim DeMint was a shoo-in for the Repuke nomination in SC, but I would imagine that a GOP'er would not want to have given up the chance to vote for that party's nominee for governor in a very heated race. To believe that they would just to put Greene in as opposition to a man who's pretty much got the job in November strains credibility.

Of course, if you can pick and choose all around the ballot (like I could in Washington State some many years ago), then you have a point. But I seem to recall that the SCOTUS made such ballots illegal quite some time ago.

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. 1. The man is barely literate. This is a sham

I wish him no will ill - I am more sickened that he was duped into doing this.

2. He ran on $500 vs the $250,000 warchest of his dem competitor. (See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4422179)

I ain't buying it.

[napi21]

10. I think most of you are missing the real problem. IF his

filing fee of $10,000 was paid for by someone else, THAT'S A FELONY! It's called interfering with the voting process. I suppose it's unfair of me to make an assupmtion, but I'm going to assume that Mr Greene does NOT have a spare $10,000 of disposable income to have paid his filig fee to run for the office. That means someone else did! On another post Isaid I hope an investigation proves that DiMine's crowd gave him the $$! Can Greene be a good Senator in the event DiMint crashes & burns? Hmmmm, probably not, but if he were elected, & if he hired some GOOD advisors, he COULD prove to be a much better Senator fr the US than DiMint could ever be!

[rpannier]

15. And that is a valid point I don't disagree

But, there seems to be a lot of effort being expended my many people about this guy being a plant by the Republican Party.

Something like this would have been coordinated through DeMint's office and I find it hard to believe that DeMint would give 10,000 dollars to this guy. Have him put his name on the primary ballot. Then sit in his parent's basement for last few months and do nothing.

All in the hope that this guy would win the Democratic Primary by doing jack and squat

Where he got the money is valid question (I will admit I missed your post and if you would link it for me I'd be glad to read it)

[Toucano]

22. Exactly.

Why piss away 10 grand and not have your plant campaign?

That strategy makes no sense.

[hlthe2b]

24. A real (and surprising) lack of imagination here, it seems.. here

given how many dirty tricks we've seen from Rethugs over the years. Why WOULD they want this guy to campaign? They wouldn't. He's an idiot. They would be 1. depending on the lack of name recognition to luck out with him being elected OR if there is a conspiracy 2. counting on enough cross over RETHUG votes to get him elected in an open primary

As to the earlier post that "it would have to be coordinated through DeMint's office and why would he..." That is absolute nonsense. Have some DUers not heard of the many RW groups working behind the scenes to fund such efforts? THe Grover Norquists, Krolls, the Richard Mellon Scaifes, the Peter Thiels-- all that have been found to fund these kind of campaigns, from the little dweeb James O'Keefe's anti-acorn crap, to the swift boaters. These were the kind of tactics Karl Rove brought to local campaigns and then to a national level.

No, I don't think it unlikely, at all.... And yes, this guy may be a sad "mark," but if he took this money from someone who is exploiting him, he could be guilty of a felony.

[xchrom]

11. Unrec for unitelligent audacity and lack

Of serious info backing up said unintelligence.

[rpannier]

12. You have a nice day too nt

[msongs]

14. who believes ANY dem was gonna unseat deMint? nt

[napi21]

18. Having lived in SC for 6 years I'd agree with you, BUT...

remember Ann Richards, Governor of Texas! Texas is almsot as tie with SC in "conservatives, RWers, etc.) but they LOVED ANN! The right person could do it. I KNOW FOr SUre though, they would NOt have just sat quietly and did nothing! They would have campaigned HARD and raised lots of $$ and it would have been on the national scene for months!

[csziggy]

17. If he is legitimate, it would be nice to think that the anti-incumbent fervor

Stirred up by the Republicans for their Tea Party crowd could come back to bite them! Wouldn't it be sweet if Greene beat DeMint?

I wonder if he got so many votes because the voters were tired of the same choices? Greene's competition in the Demoncratic race was a long time Party guy.

But when my tin foil hat leaks I wonder about how Greene got such and overwhelming victory with no campaigning - and wonder if this is some test of voting machine manipulation that was not supposed to attract attention.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. I hate conspiracy theories. But the SC Republicans have run a decoy candidate before.

Here:

Greene’s curious candidacy raises the question that something else might be going on.
Republican place markers in Palmetto State Democratic primaries are campaign legend.

In the early ‘90s, a Republican strategist was prosecuted and forced to pay a fine when he was found to have coaxed an unemployed black fisherman into running in a primary race to increase white turnout at the polls in a Lowcountry congressional race. The political operative paid the man’s filing fee.

http://www.free-times.com/index.php?cat=1992912064017974&ShowArticle_ID=11011905102861700

But it seems to me the only upside would be to embarrass the Dems. DeMint was going to win anyway.

[Toucano]

23. Isn't it possible that he didn't win?

I am inclined to believe voting machine error before I believe the plant theory.

The GOP has no reason to run a decoy or plant in that race.

[bbgrunt]

26. I think that it is interesting that this angle isn't being

questioned. Maybe it is a test run to see just how ridiculous a result will be accepted before they really screw the pooch with the Nov. elections. we are seriously f**ed