Unknown Unemployed man wins SC primary,.

[ArmorPierce]

What? Is that a southern black thing or something? I've never heard of that?

[eion]

What? Is that a southern black thing or something? I've never heard of that?

This is 2000 Census data:

Green Surname Comonality
•59.33 percent, or 245,316 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
•36.23 percent, or 149,803 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"

Greene Surname Comonality
•70.34 percent, or 84,129 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
•25.52 percent, or 30,523 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"

If I were a cynical man, I would say the advantage of fielding a someone with "Greene" as a surname is to show that the person isn't Hispanic. Make of that what you will. Again, this is all speculation. The perceived commonality of "Greene" as a surname amongst African-Americans is something I'll admit to hearing on Countdown.

[Master of Cards]

What? Is that a southern black thing or something? I've never heard of that?

This is 2000 Census data:

Green Surname Comonality
•59.33 percent, or 245,316 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
•36.23 percent, or 149,803 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"

Greene Surname Comonality
•70.34 percent, or 84,129 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic White Only"
•25.52 percent, or 30,523 total occurrences, were "Non-Hispanic Black Only"

If I were a cynical man, I would say the advantage of fielding a someone with "Greene" as a surname is to show that the person isn't Hispanic. Make of that what you will. Again, this is all speculation. The perceived commonality of "Greene" as a surname amongst African-Americans is something I'll admit to hearing on Countdown.

Your data is within 1% of each other a 1 in 20 chance of the person being hispanic. I doubt thats the reason.

[eion]

Your data is within 1% of each other a 1 in 20 chance of the person being hispanic. I doubt thats the reason.

I'm not sure where you're getting your 5% chance of being Hispanic, even if you add in the "Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races" option you only get a little better than 3% for Greene. Am I missing something?

EDIT: Ah, did you only look at the two values I quoted and didn't click on the link, because if you only add those together you do get about 95%, but there are other options on the Census for race beyond White/Black/Hispanic.

Of course, if they really wanted to pick a name that is very common amongst African-American families and appeared first on the Ballot they could have found someone with one of these as a surname:

-Jefferson (594th most common surname and 75.24% prevalence amongst Non-Hispanic Black Only population)
-Booker (902nd and 65.57%)
-Jackson (18th and 53.02%)

I have no idea why Mr. Greene was chosen (and I’d be surprised if he wasn’t, that $10,000 had to come from somewhere), but the perception that this unknown candidate was African-American (regardless of the truth of that perception) coupled with appearing first on the ballot almost certainly played a part in his victory.

[Jeremy]

Alvin is more of a give-a-way but even then I didn't think he was a Black man until I saw the video.

[Phantasee]

Maybe i'm just overlooking something obvious, but why is it so hard to believe a guy can save up ten grand or get a loan or line of credit for ten k? Why does he have to be a plant? Can't it just be a guy who wants to run?

[eion]

Maybe i'm just overlooking something obvious, but why is it so hard to believe a guy can save up ten grand or get a loan or line of credit for ten k? Why does he have to be a plant? Can't it just be a guy who wants to run?

Greene's Filing Fee Check Featured Hand-Scrawled 'Alvin M. Greene For Senate' (PICTURE)

In March, unemployed veteran Alvin Greene showed up at the Democratic party headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina, to register as a candidate for U.S. Senate. To pay the filing fee, he was bearing a personal check for $10,440 -- which he has insisted all along was his own money. But party Chairwoman Carol Fowler turned him away, saying he needed a campaign check.

TPMmuckraker has obtained from the party the "campaign" check that Greene, the man now being called a "plant" by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), returned with several hours later. It is distinguished as a campaign check by the words "Alvin M. Greene for Senate" scribbled in pen in the upper left hand corner.

The memo line of the $10,440 check, from National Bank of South Carolina, reads only, "US Senate."

Check it out below:



You can read the statement of candidacy Greene filled out that day right here. It appears Greene himself filled out some basic biographical information and signed a pledge to abide by the results of the primary. A Democratic party staffer signed as witness.

And here's a remarkable new interview with Greene by WCSC, an NBC affiliate. At one point, around one minute in, a clearly uncomfortable Greene is asked what kind of campaigning he did, and he responds "Can I end this?":

There are a couple possibilities. This appears to be a starter check, as there is no pre-printed account information in the upper left, so the checking account was either newly created, or rarely used, though most people switch from starter checks to account checks when they receive them (normally about 10-14 days after the account is opened) as they are more widely accepted.

So, Mr. Greene either came into some money and thought the best way to invest it was to run for the US Senate (not the worst idea, it is a pretty sweet gig) or was given some money for the purpose of running, or indeed as you say, saved the money with the hope of running.

I find it very hard to believe that an unemployed man would save $10,440 and spend it in this way, rather than spend it on other things.

It's certainly possible that there is nothing shady going on and he just wanted to run (it's interesting that he was very excited about his picture appearing on the party website, mentioned here), and it would be kind of sweet if that turns out to be the case, but it is far from the only likely scenario.

Regardless, since he paid with a check, the truth of where the $10,440 came from should soon be known.

[Phantasee]

Yeah, when I read the original article I assumed he went to a bank and opened a new account. If that's the cheque, it's a lot like the cheques I got when I opened a new account a few years ago. They are temporary and you have to fill in your personal information, until you order some real cheques in.

I'm still not seeing why the first thing to assume is "plant". He could have come into some money, people do die and leave wills. Most people have family, after all. And I don't see why it's so strange for a man to have 10k saved up in the bank, but maybe not being American is clouding my perception here (I understand most Americans are in boatloads of debt?).

[eion]

To answer that, we have to look at the other reason Alvin Greene is notable, he's been charged with a felony for showing naughty pictures to a coed in the library

EDIT: Found a better story that isn't a blog

Where'd Alvin Greene get $10K to run for Senate?

Thu Jun 10, 2:33 pm ET
The evidence is mounting that Alvin Greene — the mysterious unemployed veteran who has a pending felony charge and shocked South Carolina by winning the Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night — was put up to the candidacy in some sort of political skulduggery.

In March, Greene paid a $10,400 filing fee to get on the ballot. But just four months before that, when he was charged with showing obscene images to a woman, Greene qualified for representation by a public defender— which in South Carolina requires an "affidavit of indigency" to prove that you can't afford your own attorney.

Greene was charged in November with showing a University of South Carolina student pornography on his laptop in a school library. According to case information from the South Carolina Judicial Department, he is being represented by a Richland County public defender. For Greene to qualify for that representation, Richland County Assistant Solicitor Joanna McDuffie told Yahoo! News, he would have had to complete a questionnaire attesting to his income and assets.

"They ask, 'Do you have a checking account?,' and if you say yes, then you have to say how much is in it," McDuffie said. If Greene disclosed a bank account with more than $10,000 in savings, it's doubtful — to put it mildly — that he would have qualified for a public defender. The South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, which operates the state's public defender program, makes clear that courts take into account "the number of people in your household, whether you own any real estate, or have money in the bank" when deciding whether to assign a public defender to a defendant.

Greene has claimed that he paid the $10,400 filing fee out of his savings from his military pay. But he was discharged from the Army in August 2009 and says he hasn't held a job since then.

So, in economic terms, the timeline goes like this: Greene's military paychecks stopped in August. Three months later, he filed an affidavit with a South Carolina court claiming to be indigent. And four months after that he walked into the South Carolina Democratic Party headquarters with a personal check for $10,400. It doesn't add up.

Calls to Greene's attorney weren't returned, and Greene's phone line was busy.

Speculation is rampant in South Carolina that Greene was a plant installed by GOP operatives to sow racial dissension in the primary and thereby disrupt the campaign plans of the anticipated winner, Vic Rawl. But Greene literally did not run a campaign, and his failure to do so seems to argue against that theory. What's the point of paying $10,000 to throw a monkey wrench into the political works if you're not going to cause a ruckus?

Some insiders have suggested that Greene was dormant until the very end of the campaign, when unidentified handlers may have launched targeted direct-mail or phone campaigns urging African-American voters to turn out for him. There's no evidence yet of any independent expenditures on Greene's behalf: Neither the Federal Election Commission nor the secretary of the Senate, both of which receive campaign filings for U.S. Senate races, show any record of independent expenditures benefiting Greene at any point during the campaign. All of which only deepens the mystery of how a completely unknown candidate with little visible means of support won all but four of South Carolina's counties without lifting a finger.

—John Cook is a senior national reporter/blogger for Yahoo! News.

So either he lied about his assets to secure the public defender, in which case he's guilty of perjury and can't run for office

Or, like you said he came into some money in the time between when he declared himself pennyless and when you declared his candidicy, but that isn't his story

Or, someone fronted him the money to register as a candidate, which is also illegal, in which case he can't run for office either.

[Crossroads Inc.]

The main problem is the guy himself doesn't "Smell" right, Every interview I see of him, he seems to have this deer in the headlights "WTF am I doing here?" look.

If you run for office ESPECIALLY Senate, you do so because you have an idea of what you want to do. Also you usually have at least SOME understanding of politics. Even basic politicians know how to BS in front of a Camera, it is like standard, this guy on camera, just doesn't seem to want to be there.

If he did this as a "joke" thinking he would never win, you would imagine he would say so, be a bit more loose on TV, more "Wow I didn't expect this to happen!"

Like other I can't imagine an unemployed man spending 10,000 like this. More importantly, I can't imagine someone who was "serious" about running not being able to handle being in front of a Camera or being able to carry on a coherent conversation.

Weather this guy is a "plant" or not, who knows, but there is so much that smells bad going on here.

[weemadando]

Crooks and Liars

It also turns out that he got more votes than were cast. Suspicious much?