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With South Carolina's sordid history of dirty politics, it's no wonder conspiracy theories abound about an unknown, unemployed military veteran winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

This is, after all, the birthplace of political maestro Lee Atwater and where rumors of an illegitimate black child ruined John McCain's 2000 presidential run.

Perhaps the most surprising element of Alvin Greene's victory so far is that nothing yet sufficiently explains how it happened.

Greene stunned the state with his win Tuesday over a four-term former lawmaker considered the presumptive Democratic nominee. The 32-year-old candidate who lives with his father and faces a felony charge will challenge Republican juggernaut U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in the fall.

The week has seen Greene change from sweat pants and a T-shirt to dark suit and tie, but he's still stammering his way through interviews as he did before the election when he repeated several vague phrases about job creation to an Associated Press reporter and declined to talk about where he campaigned.

When The Associated Press broke word of the felony charge that day, the stunned Democratic establishment lashed out with a panoply of suspicions over how Greene could have paid his $10,440 filing fee and won. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn wants authorities to investigate. "Something is amiss," he said.

While it's tough to explain how Greene came up with the cash (he says he saved up for two years), the conspiracy theories posed by analysts and Democrats are not ironclad:

— Is Greene a shell candidate who got help from Republican forces seeking to discredit the Democratic Party? Greene says he hasn't had help from anyone, save friends and family. State Republican officials call the allegation "absurd" and DeMint is considered a lock for a second term.

— Third-party help? Did Greene, who is black, get help from outside groups? A group that ran cable ads encouraging the unemployed to vote says it never promoted him and the director of the state's NAACP chapter says he knew nothing about Greene before Tuesday night.

— Was Rawl a victim of the antiestablishment sentiment that swept the state's primaries? Rawl carried few counties on Tuesday, but one of them was Charleston, where he serves on the county council.

Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen said he thinks Greene benefited from voters not knowing either candidate and choosing either a name that sounded familiar or the one at the top of the list.

"In this case, the guy got a lot of the blind vote," Thigpen said. "It's just a complete fluke."

"The only mystery there to me is where the guy got the $10,000," he added.

State Sen. Robert Ford, who came in third in his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor, said it is possible that black voters looking for a black candidate might have chosen Greene because of the spelling of his name.

"Voters didn't know either candidate," said Ford, who is black. "A lot of blacks who have the last name Greene add an 'e'."

In a state where the contentious Republican primary for governor held voters rapt with infidelity allegations and racial slurs, the contest for the right to face DeMint simply fell to the backburner. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, who heads the group aimed at elected Democratic senators, says he's not focusing resources on the state this year.

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The review is in response to the shocking victory by 32-year-old Alvin Greene, who, despite never giving a campaign speech or running any television or radio ads, managed to handily defeat Rawl 59 percent to 41 percent. The state party chairwoman has already asked Greene to step aside, and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) has speculated that he might be a Republican plant.

Greene has pledged to remain in the race and said he has “always been a Democrat.”

In Lancaster County, Rawl won absentee ballots over Greene by a staggering 84 percent to 16 percent margin; but Greene easily led among Election Day voters by 17 percentage points.

In Spartanburg County, Ludwig said there are 25 precincts in which Greene received more votes than were actually cast and 50 other precincts where votes appeared to be missing from the final count.

“In only two of 88 precincts, do the number of votes Greene got plus the number we got equal the total cast,” Ludwig said.

Greene also racked up a 75 percent or greater margin in one-seventh of all precincts statewide, a mark that Ludwig notes is even difficult for an incumbent to reach.

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Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off