Nikki Haley - the next big thing for the GOP?

The New York Times has an excellent article on the favorite to become South Carolina's next governor.

Now, she finds herself one of the brightest rising stars in the Republican Party, a Tea Party favorite, a Sarah Palin endorsee and the subject of national attention.

“I love that people think it’s a good story, but I don’t understand how it’s different,” she said in an interview Friday, in a voice with a faint watermark of Southern drawl. “I feel like I’m just an accountant and businessperson who wants to be a part of state government.”

SC Democratic nominee may be Republican plant

A few days ago I let you know about the unusual win of Alvin Greene, who one Tuesday's Demcoration Senate primary in South Carolina. To recap - he raised no money, had no staff, never gave a speech or even had a website. Yet he trounced his well-funded opponent, Vic Rawl, 59 to 41. Did I mention that he has been charged with a felony?

New details have emerged. Mr. Greene has been unemployed for the past nine months, has been receiving unemployment checks, and he is being represented by a public defender. The filing fee for the senate primary is $10,400. Many are wondering where that money came from, and there is speculation that it may have been given to Greene by Republicans.

But really, what motive would Republicans have to give the money to Greene? Was DeMint in any kind of electoral trouble? I doubt it. This is South Carolina we're talking about, and it's a midterm election. Minorities and low income people are less likely to vote.

Aside from the issue of money, there is collective head scratching among Democrats over how a man who didn't even campaign could win against someone who, well, did. While most of the stories I've read don't go into any specific explanations beyond "geez whiz isn't this unusual," the NYT blogger Kate Phillips noted that the Post and Courier in South Carolina have been speculating on the role that race played (Greene is black, Rawl is white):

State Senator Robert Ford, D-Charleston, who lost his gubernatorial bid Tuesday, said race could have played a role. The Democratic primary electorate is majority black, as is Greene, but not Rawl. “Vic Rawl had money, but he didn’t have enough. He wasn’t able to identify himself with black voters,” Ford said. “No white folks have an ‘e’ on the end of Green. The blacks after they left the plantation couldn’t spell, and they threw an ‘e’ on the end.”

That bit about how former slaves couldn't spell is a bit deeper than I wanted to go, but whatever. The assumption is that blacks back their own kind and the extra "e" at the end of Greene's name provided them with a racial voting cue. If true (and I'm not saying that it is true), it explains how Greene wouldn't have even needed to campaign at all.

Man charged w/ felony wins SC Democratic primary

Alvin Greene has won South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary. No one expected him to win (he was going up against a well funded lawyer and hadn't raised any money). However, now Democratic insiders have to look at what the voters chose. Apparently, they don't like what they see. That's because Greene was arrested for allegedly showing pornographic images to a college student and suggesting that they go to the student's room.

Camille McCoy, a 19-year-old rising sophomore at the University of South Carolina, said she called campus police after Greene sat down next to her in a computer lab and asked her to look at his screen, which showed a pornographic website.

"I said, 'That's offensive,' and he sat there laughing," said McCoy, who was 18 at the time. "It was very disgusting. He said, 'Let's go to your room now.' It was kind of scary. He's a pretty big boy. He could've overpowered me."

Leading Democrats in the state have asked Greene to step down in light of recent revelations.

I suggest you view this story in conjunction with the crazy allegations regarding Nikki Haley. One can only ask, "What is wrong with South Carolina?!"

Sanford (Gov - SC) reverses course, decides to support Race to the Top funds for his state

Sanford, you're a political-posturing asshat:

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) is requesting his state's share of an education grant authorized as part of last year's stimulus -- a $787-billion pot of money Sanford in part once declined.

The Republican governor spent much of Thursday meeting with Education Secretary Arne Duncan in Washington, according to media reports, pitching his state's application for "Race to the Top" — a billion-dollar, highly competitive grant program designed to encourage schools to innovate.

{mosads}State officials believe South Carolina is a prime competitor for those education dollars, the first awards of which will be announced in March.

But Sanford's trip this week to lobby on his state's behalf is chiefly noteworthy because of the governor's stalwart opposition to other stimulus programs in the past.

Remember, folks: he was against it before he was for it.