Democratic Party officials in South Carolina voted Thursday to uphold the result of their controversial Senate primary even though the winner was Alvin Greene, an unemployed political novice who stands almost no chance of defeating Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in November.
Meeting in Columbia, members of the state Democratic Party executive committee voted by a 38-7 margin to reject a protest from former state lawmaker Vic Rawl, the establishment-backed candidate who unexpectedly lost last Tuesday’s primary to Greene.I discussed Alvin Greene a few days back, and while I continue to believe Mr. Greene has some outside assistance to enter and compete in the race, there can be NO QUESTION that Mr. Greene defeated Vic Rawl legitimately. 100,000+ voters cannot be all wrong; and 100,000+ South Carolina voters said they didn't want the anointed Democratic candidate Vic Rawl.
Coincidentally, Alvin Greene has found a most unlikely fan - Ann Coulter. As noted by Stacy McCain, Ann finds Greene to be "the most qualified Democrat I've ever seen." Ann again points out the obvious regarding outside intervention in Greene's candidacy:
The only thing a Republican could possibly have done is pay Greene's filing fee. It's likely that someone paid his filing fee, inasmuch as Greene doesn't appear to have enough money to buy a sandwich.
But anyone could have paid it -- ACORN, a community organizer, a stimulus grantor, Betty White. If a Republican paid the $10,000 filing fee, why not give Greene another hundred bucks for a campaign website? Or how about making it $150, so Greene could buy a new suit?It again makes little sense for the GOP to drop big money into Greene (assuming it's true on any level) inasmuch as Jim DeMint was not seriously challenged by any of the Dem offerings - certainly not Rawl. But as far as I'm concerned, whoever contributed Greene's filing fees got their money's worth - if only for political shock value and the seemingly bottomless cup of subject matter for bloggers such as myself.
There is one good thing to take away from this story; that our voting system remains largely intact and retains the trust and confidence of the electorate. My greatest fear in this vote was the overturn of Greene's election results. Such an action would have had a chilling effect on the voting public. The potential for damage from a partisan overturn of Greene's results could have met or exceeded the 2000 Florida presidential elections' damage to the public's confidence in election processes - and trust in government in general.
As I've stated previously, the confidence Americans place in our electoral system is a mainstay of society. Without it, our way of life is profoundly changed, we become a third-world nation. Public trust and confidence in the elections process cannot be understated. An overturn of Greene's results could have been devastating, reaching far beyond Alvin Greene's 15 minutes of fame. I applaud South Carolina Democrats for putting that in perspective (all but the seven knuckleheads who voted for the overturn, that is).
-LTB
What's the big deal from the dem's camp anyways. This man is far smarter and just as qualified, if not more so as his birth right isn't questioned, as the President. He hasn't a prayer in the world of winning, but should all reality die and it happens, he can't do worse than what we have from the dems in the senate now.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the great state of South Carolina. There has been SOME question as to the validity of some of the election returns in favor of Alvin Greene. One county in particular, seemed to have had more absentee ballots returned than were sent out. Of course, there's always some squawking about vote counts in every election by one candidate or another.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm kind of wondering if this might have been some kind of "test project" by the nefarious characters at the SEIU/ACORN? You know..."Lets see if we can influence an election by inserting an unknown person with no obvious qualifications into the election and see what happens".
Mike