Alvin Greene Interview: It Just Gets Weirder

The story of newly elected South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene continues to baffle political observers. After coming out of total obscurity to best his Democratic challenger on Tuesday, the unemployed military veteran who faces a felony obscenity charge granted a memorable interview to South Carolina public television today.

Among the many improbable revelations in the exchange, Greene said he paid for his campaign with unemployment benefits, and that while he decided to pony up the $10,400 filing fee to enter the Senate race, he is opting to be represented by a public defender for his upcoming court proceedings in California.


According to Greene, the biggest reason to vote for him over his Republican opponent, Sen. Jim DeMint, is that "I am a 13-year military veteran, and my opponent has no military experience."

Speaking of DeMint, the senator categorically denied that he had anything to do with Greene's odd emergence in the political world, a possibility floated earlier by South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Asked how he hoped to compete with DeMint's $4 million war chest, especially considering that the state Democratic Party has asked Greene to exit the race, the Democratic nominee replied, "In the end it's not the money added up, it's the votes that count."