MANNING, S.C. — Unlikely U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene introduced himself to a worldwide audience as well as curious neighbors Sunday as he laid out his platform in an eight-minute speech that alternated between forceful and awkward.
Nearly 400 people, including TV networks and reporters from as far away as London, packed a middle-school gym in his hometown to hear South Carolina’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate deliver his first known campaign speech.
They came to hear the 32- year-old unemployed veteran who easily — and surprisingly — won last month’s primary over a better-known and better-funded rival. He now faces Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
“My campaign is about getting South Carolina and America back to work and moving South Carolina and America forward,” Greene said.
In dozens of post-primary interviews, Greene had revealed himself as a man of few words but offered little about why he’s running or what he’d do.
Greene spoke to the Manning branch of the NAACP, which moved its meeting from a church to the school because of the outsize interest. He began with a nod to his audience.
“I’m the best candidate in the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina,” he said. “I’m also the best candidate for (the NAACP) Image Award.”
Toward the end of his remarks, he began an anecdote about “this guy,” a “person of color” who got in legal trouble. But the story trailed off, as it appeared he either lost his train of thought or changed his mind. “But anyway, moving on, let’s get South Carolina back to work,” he said.
