State Democratic leader to call it quits come spring

COLUMBIA -- The S.C. Democratic Party will have a new leader next spring following the Alvin Greene political debacle.

Party chairwoman Carol Fowler told The State she won't seek a third term in the spring of 2011. Fowler said her decision not to seek re-election is not due to Greene, the party's surprise U.S. Senate nominee, who is facing a federal obscenity charge.

Greene, of Manning, whose finances are being investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division, is in for a steep uphill battle in November's general election when he faces incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of Greenville.

"Twice is plenty. I've never intended to run again," Fowler said. "I don't think anybody should be the state chair more than two terms. You always need new ideas so the party doesn't get stagnant."

For the last few weeks, some Democratic fingers have been pointed at the party's leaders, and Fowler specifically, for not doing more to prevent Greene from running and for not bolstering the candidacy of his opponent, Vic Rawl, a Charleston County Council member and former circuit court judge. Most of the criticism has taken place quietly as party members focus on getting their party's nominee for governor, Vincent Sheheen, elected.

Fowler and some other Democrats say there is little she and the state party could have done to halt Greene's candidacy after he paid the required $10,440 filing fee.

"I tried a bit to discourage him when he came in to file because I thought he was a bit naive on what it would take to run and win and how much this would cost," Fowler said of Greene, an unemployed Army veteran whose mental capacity has been called into question by some. "I did try to make him understand that the odds were against him, that he would have to raise millions of dollars ... the same kind of conversations I've had with several potential candidates. But he was unfazed by it all."

Unlike some parties in other states, the S.C. Democratic Party does not endorse primary candidates, meaning the party could not go on the offensive against Greene nor could it aid Rawl.

"I am very squeamish about having the party take official acts to endorse or attack a candidate in a primary," Fowler said. "We've always been more open than that, and I've been reluctant to start down the path where party insiders choose the nominee."

Still, the state party is in talks to amend its rules because of Greene's win.

"It has been suggested that we require candidates have a [criminal background check] done on themselves when they come to file," Fowler said, "but no decision has been made."

After Greene filed, Fowler and her staff researched Greene on the Internet because they had never heard of him . They did not turn up information about his obscenity charge, she said.

Some Democrats, including state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, say the party has learned from the Greene nomination .

"This has been a teachable moment," Cobb-Hunter said. "In hindsight, of course, some vetting should have been done. Is the Democratic Party responsible? Of course we are. We fell down on the job. But that is not something that has been required in the past, but I assure you it's something that will be done in the future."

Substantial changes in the party are unlikely to come before the November general election. Until then, all focus is on electing Sheheen and a slate of other Democrats.

Greene is not on that list.

"He's got to get his legal problems behind him. He's got to get these other investigations about his finances behind him," Fowler said. "He's got to run a real campaign before Democrats are going to care about voting for or supporting him or the party helping him."