Who Is Alvin Greene? South Carolina Paper Fills in Some Blanks

Alvin Greene, the Being There-esque mystery man who won the Democratic primary in South Carolina by a fairly crushing margin, continues to provide one of the weirdest and most riveting political stories of the year. Details of who he is, whence he came and who he showed porn to have been coming out in dribs and drabs. But now, courtesy of the Columbia, S.C., Free Times, we have the fullest account yet of Greene's life and times.

1. On Green's home town:

"Manning is like many small South Carolina towns where you know your neighbor and your neighbor's neighbor. But not many in Manning knew Alvin Greene. Some who did say he was a strange kid growing up, a quiet kid, a loner. They talk about him the way a neighbor might describe a killer or the man who later becomes president. It's always, of course, the quiet ones."

2. On where he may have gotten his taste for politics:

Alvin's father, James Greene, retired from the Clemson Extension Program where he used to teach. In his time, he was a barber and a nightclub owner who wanted blacks to play a bigger role in politics and entertainment. An outspoken activist for Democratic politics, he was a prominent fixture in town who once brought a private carnival to Manning many years ago when the American Legion stopped doing it.

3. On his struggles with office supplies:

The piece looks into the various explanations of Greene's win, which he accomplished without spending money, holding rallies, raising any money or distributing literature. Along the way, it relays an anecdote from one Manning, S.C. barbershop owner who said Greene brought in a flier and asked to tape it to the window, but forgot to bring tape.

4. On the race factor:

Democrats are calling for an investigation into whether the state GOP, which has not exactly distinguished itself of late, put Greene up to his run. The more conventional Democratic opponent, Vic Rawl, was reasonably well-funded and polling just seven points behind Senator Jim DeMint (R-Tea Party) going into the primary, so could have been viewed as enough of a threat to inspire shenanigans. Greene, on the other hand, is going to be laughed off the debate stage. While it's a struggle to get politicians to stop talking, interviewers have had to labor to get Greene to talk. Keith Olberman's interview last night was one of the most awkward in recent memory.

But the Free Times also explores the role that race played:

Blacks spell Greene with an "e" on the end, and the average voter in a South Carolina Democratic primary is a black woman. Also, Greene's name appeared above Rawl's on the ballot and the name Rawl sounds like white Charleston aristocracy. Most voters didn't know who Greene or Rawl was and Rawl didn't campaign enough to earn high name recognition even though he certainly campaigned very hard throughout the state. A massively uninformed electorate chose the name Greene over Rawl and it's just that simple...

Kevin Gray, a prominent black activist and author in South Carolina, says he voted for Greene. "When I was in the voting booth I looked at both those names," he says. "I'd seen Vic Rawl on Facebook before, but Alvin Greene, that name looked black."

5. On his animal companion:

Greene has a cat is named "Purry," though he seems a little unclear on that. It could just be "Purr."