Yes, I’m talking about Alvin Greene.

For those of you who need a little background, here it is.  The Democrat Senate candidate running against Jim DeMint this year is a man named Alvin Greene.  What makes him so surprising is that while he was on the ballot, he did no fundraising, he didn’t campaign, and in fact may have just thought getting himself on the ballot would get him nominated.

It turns out he was right.  The Alvin Greene candidacy falls well into the Cinderella category.

His opponents are not thrilled, and their attempts to get rid of him will provide for some desperately needed comic relief.  A fellow by the name of Vic Rawl seems to think that 100,000 of his votes were misplaced.  Pesky votes, winding up beside the wrong name like that.  They also think he might be too mentally incompetent to run in an election, but we’re talking about Congress here.  If people like Kennedy and Byrd fit into the Senate, Greene should feel right at home.

Now, I suppose we should all be laughing at the drama on the other side.  However, I’m going to go out on a limb and say ‘no’.  DeMint retains his seat the day he wins it.  Yes, Greene is not the ideal candidate unless you’re seeing it from the point of view of beating him, but these have been strange seasons lately.  Consider…

• This is the state that gave us Lindsey Graham.
• Alvin Greene can play the ‘historical’ card, just like Obama did.  He’s the first black Senate candidate in South Carolina since after the Civil War.
• There are people who well may vote for him on novelty value alone (see Arnold Schwarzanegger and Al Franken).
• There are people who will vote for his skin color alone (he’s black).
• He’s going to be a press novelty, which will give him exposure he will not otherwise get.
• He’s going to be controversial, which will give him exposure he will not otherwise get.

I suspect DeMint’s reaction to all of this may well be laughter, but I hope he takes some advice in this regard.  Senator, the second this guy looks like he might be gaining traction on you, stop him.  If Franken can get to the Senate, anyone can, and we don’t want to lose you.