• Posted on Saturday, June 19, 2010
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Greene is S.C. Democratic Party’s nominee in name only

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Alvin Greene is the South Carolina Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate, but that doesn’t mean Democratic Party members actually support his candidacy.

One day after the party’s executive committee rejected a protest of his shocking primary victory, the party seemed to be keeping its distance from Greene, an unemployed military veteran facing a felony obscenity charge.

Carol Fowler, the party chairwoman who called for Greene to withdraw from the race when she learned about his felony charge, would not commit to dedicating any party resources to Greene as he moves toward a contest this fall against U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

A regional spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, which, under ordinary circumstances, might be singing the praises of the historic run of a black man for a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina, would not comment on Greene. And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee makes no mention on its Web site of Greene’s candidacy.

“When you have a candidate who is under the type of legal cloud he’s under, you are going to distance yourself,” Fowler said.

Silence from his fellow Democrats didn’t seem to bother the 32-year old Greene on Friday morning.

Reached at his home in Manning, he said he had not heard from anyone in the party after its executive committee members grudgingly rejected a protest of the primary filed by Greene’s opponent, Charleston County Councilman Vic Rawl, who argued that some type of voting machine malfunction had to be responsible for his primary pasting.

Greene would not say why he decided against attending the committee meeting. But he liked the result.

“They did the right thing,” he said, adding that he thinks the party will end up backing him.

“Yes, I believe they will support me, and I need their support,” Greene said. “I’m the nominee.”

Read more of this storythestate.com

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