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At least 400 people crowded an auditorium to hear Greene give his first campaign speech since winning the South Carolina Democratic Primary. Greene addressed the crowd during an NAACP meeting in his hometown of Manning.

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In a recent meeting with state Democrats, Greene had rebuffed attempts to help make this first appearance—and his campaign in general—run smoothly. He was offered a speech written to promote his platform of "Jobs, Education, and Justice". He rejected it. Alvin was offered the services of an off-duty policeman to act as a "body-man" and keep the press from mauling him after the speech. He rejected that, preferring to drive himself. He was offered and rejected the services of a volunteer who would begin vetting interview requests and answering the phones. Finally, he was asked not to give any more interviews until a proper campaign organization could be pulled together. He's been following that piece of advice better than the rest. Alvin Greene has his own ideas about how he wants to present himself during campaign, but those ideas remain a mystery.

Greene moved sheepishly to the podium. He cleared his throat, then went hard at his heavily-favored opponent, Republican incumbent Jim DeMint. But he immediately became stuck on the number "One-hundred and twenty-five thousand"—the number of jobs lost America last month. He looked down as he repeated the number, adjusted his clothes. He jumped right into a rambling explanation of why a highway project planned to run from Michigan to the coast of South Carolina would bring jobs and economic prosperity to the state. The problem with including it in his political platform is that there is nothing a U.S. Senator could do to further the project. Plus, no one in federal or state government opposes the project—including Jim DeMint.

Next, Greene pointed out that SC leads the nation in high school drop outs. (In 2008, South Carolina graduated only 55.6% of her students.) He rightly pointed out that parental involvement must be a major component in improving this statistic. But he then claimed South Carolina is 49th in state educational rankings. South Carolina actually ranks in the middle—between 24th and 28th, depending on whose numbers you use.

To pundits, and political junkies, Alvin performed poorly today. But immediate reactions from the people at Manning Junior High were positive. One Republican voter told me, "I would vote for him. I always vote for Republican candidates, but I would vote for Alvin Greene after his speech today."

I phoned Alvin shortly after the speech. He asked me: "How do you think I did? I thought it was good." I told him I thought it needed more substance. "Substance?" Alvin said, his voice rising. "At least I have some ideas. My opponent has none. It was my first campaign speech. There will be more."

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Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of __________________, code name ‘Nike”,
signing off