Okay, so… you know, this whole Alvin Greene thing.
Here’s the thing. And it pains me to admit that it’s “A Thing” but the news cycle hasn’t dropped it yet, so apparently it is. Anyway, here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter. Whether the state GOP paid his registration fee or not, whether he won 60% of the primary votes because his name was first on the ballot or the electronic voting machines went hinky or, more conspiritorially (but entirely plausibly, because this *is* South Carolina), because it’s an open primary and you can vote in it whether or not you affiliate yourself with the party in question and hey, wouldn’t that be a hoot, guys?, whether he’s right in the head or not — it doesn’t matter.
Unless the Democrats ran Jesus himself in that race, Jim DeMint was not going to lose.
Now, I believe we should take our electoral process seriously, and I believe if there is any indication that something truly was out of line in this situation, it should be investigated. Just because the result of an election is, barring video evidence and a signed confession from Jim DeMint that he eats babies (and maybe not even then — this *is* South Carolina), a foregone conclusion, doesn’t mean the process should be used as a joke or in perpetrating actual fraud. But all this gnashing of teeth and hysterical finger-pointing on behalf of the SC Democrats is only making the situation more embarrassing for everyone. If there is evidence of wrongdoing, investigate it and bring that to light so that *the system itself* isn’t abused in that way in the future.
But here’s the thing, SC Democratic Party: if you felt the ultimate result was enough of a lock for the other guys that you didn’t want to spend funds supporting the candidate you would have preferred win the primary or the time to investigate the only other guy on the ballot — the random, completely unknown guy on the ballot — BEFORE the primary, it’s a little late now to cry foul now. When the general election comes around, Vic Rawl was not going to win, Alvin Greene is not going to win — y’all need to sit down, shut up, and figure out how to keep this from happening again instead of wasting all of our time blaming everyone else for it having happened this time.
I am a Democrat in SC, and I approve this message.
