There’s an interesting political drama going on in South Carolina right now. I guess I should elaborate because there’s always some kind of political drama going on in South Carolina. But this time, it’s about a man running for office. His name is Alvin Greene, and he did what no one expected he would do. He upset a party politician of long standing in the Democrat primary for Senate this year. He was someone with no credentials, no money and no name recognition at all. Yet, he managed to get 60 percent of the vote from the Democrats and put state legislator Vic Rawls out to pasture in the election.
Well, now we’re starting to see all sorts of skeletons in his closet, including the fact that he’s up for some kind of felony for showing porn to some girl at college and trying to entice her to his room. Now, let’s be honest, what college guy HASN’T done that, but that’s really a different issue now, isn’t it? It seems there are all sorts of weird shenanigans going on in his past, including that he may or may not have been thrown out of the military. He refuses to comment, wanting to focus only on the issues. But for all I know, there may be absolutely nothing wrong there. He may just not want to talk about his past military service. I mean, that is his right, if he chooses to make it so.
But the Democrats are raging mad right now, demanding he quit the race, even though the “people” chose him. They’re aghast that this potential felony machine is on their ticket. Well, let’s put aside the fact that so many politicians seem to have felonies on their records these days and don’t seem to think it causes a problem to their political careers. What’s the real issue here? It appears that the Democrats just don’t like the fact that someone ran an end run past them, and they weren’t the ones in charge. The7’re claiming the Republicans must have been behind his campaign, claiming that he couldn’t have afforded the $10,440 filing fee to join the race, that some dark, sinister force must have fronted the money to hurt the Democratic Party.
What this issue is really pointing at is something much bigger. For too long now, the common person has felt out of the loop of politics, but has been subjected to it by people who feel they should be making all of the decisions. There’s a special club of politics that has a hefty membership approval process, and most of us don’t fit the mold. Alvin Greene certainly doesn’t. The two parties in this country have done a very good job of making sure only the well-connected get in, much like a union boss makes sure only his cronies are the ones surrounding him at any one time.
Alvin Greene refuses to leave the race and only wants to talk about the issues. The Democrats want him out of the race so they can focus their attention on people they already like and know. He’s an outsider, and they don’t like that.
But what this is really pointing at is something no politician wants to face or discuss, and that’s the possibility that the people are rejecting the party machines that are already established and deciding to go with outsiders. I mean, let’s face it. South Carolina has been a cesspool of politics and scandals lately, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the people of that state decided to just buck the system and choose anybody but the usual suspects. What is interesting is that the political machine in place doesn’t handle this sort of thing well, and we’re seeing a backlash as every political entity in the Democratic Party is moving forces into place to circumvent ANYONE from challenging their authority and power.
South Carolina could be a very interesting place to mark the beginning of something very significant, or it will serve as the place where a last stand for the people was made before it was stamped out forever.
This is great post. Thanks