Why Not Vote for Alvin M. Greene?

Ok, maybe I’m a little punch drunk from this crazy race, but I have to ask, what’s the worst that could happen if people voted for Alvin M. Greene? I mentioned this in a comment on Ian’s site.

Let’s break this down by reason’s not to vote for him:

1. Criminal Record: Clinton admitted to smoking pot=Illegal. Bush had a DUI=Illegal. Obama admitted to doing coke=Illegal. Teddy Kennedy killed a girl while driving drunk=Illegal. Let’s not even get into the Foleys, Larry Craigs, and Sanfords of the country. So he’s been accused of a felony. At least we know who this guy is. He’s not hiding anything and he’s not guilty yet.

2. Inexperience: This is totally bogus. People are always complaining about “Washington Insiders”. This guys is clearly not an insider.

Our current crop of politicians in SC haven’t exactly brought about prosperity. Since Campbell and Riley, I’d argue that we haven’t had any serious leadership. Hodges was a fucking joke. So was Beasley. Sanford, we’ll he’s just Sanford.

3. Military Discharge: Let’s assume he’s telling the truth about his honorable discharge. To get an honorable discharge, you have to be in good standing. If he was a horrible soldier, he would have received a General discharge. If he failed to conform to the military lifestyle, he probably would have received an OTH (Other Than Honorable) discharge. He certainly didn’t get a Big Chicken Dinner or a DD. So he served, might have separated unwillingly, but still honorably.

His military record is much more substantial than Jim DeMint‘s. He at least served.

4. He’s Not That Bright: We’ve never made intelligence a prerequisite for political office, let’s not start now.

Why Vote for Greene?

So, let’s say this guy sticks it out, beats his felony charge, and makes it to the general election. Why would someone vote for him? Well, he’s a veteran. In today’s society, this is a big deal. This guy put his money where his mouth is. He didn’t spend his time talking about the honor and dignity of serving, he served. He didn’t pay lip service to our freedom and pat veterans on the back, he picked up a rifle and walked a post. And he did it for 13 years. Why he was separated, I don’t know, but he is a vet. Period. Full Stop.

He’s unemployed. Big fucking deal. If Jim DeMint loses this fall, he’ll be unemployed too. George Bush is unemployed too. Not so, you say? This is just the basic difference between the upper classes and the middle to lower classes. Reminds me of one of my wife’s coworkers in DC. She took care of her grandchildren and they were poised to lose their apartment. She was resigned to being ‘homeless’ again. If we hit hard times and lost our apartment, we’d be fine staying with friends for a few days or weeks. We also have family that would help us out in a bad situation. While we might be technically homeless, we wouldn’t actually be without a place to lay our heads. Why? Because we’re white and middle class. We have credit cards and a built in safety net called family and friends. But for this woman, there was no net. No friends with the means to help. No family to loan her money. Nothing. Lose the apartment, you’re homeless. If we lost our apartment, we’d be crashing on someone’s couch for a week or two.

Same with Mr. Greene’s unemployment. Most politicians would be functionally unemployed if they lost their next election. The difference is the connections. Many are lawyers and can easily find a job with a friend or old partner if they lost an election. Mr. Greene’s situation is different because he’s not quite your standard politician.

If people are serious about tossing out the current crop of politicians, this guys is a great start. He needs to get his positions out there and start talking about why he is a real choice for Senate. Based on the sketchy details available about his positions, he’s a pretty agreeable guy. He’s for offshore drilling, a reasonable and logical position. He thinks gas is overpriced: who doesn’t?. He believes in a diplomatic solution to the North/South Korea issue: We certainly don’t need another front in addition to our current wars. He wants more infrastructure investment and supports the 2nd Amendment: Likes guns and believes that we’ve failed future generations by wearing out the large public works projects of yesteryear. Do I need to remind anyone of the I-35 Bridge collapse?. He wants to put the unemployed back to work. What’s not to like about this guy?