South Carolina’s 2010 election was a race worth remembering, to be sure. As if the gubernatorial battle wasn’t memorable enough for the candidates’ pot shots at one another, the race for South Carolina’s Senate turned out to be more of a side show than actual election. US Army/Air Force veteran Alvin Greene stepped into the picture and instantly became an item of interest in the realm of pop culture, and an item of scrutiny in the political spectra. With no political background, no job, no car, no house to call his own, and no real direction, many questioned whether Greene’s race was a joke. In nearly every televised interview, Greene seemed to have trouble organizing his thoughts and even forming full sentences, which the Air Force credits as one of the reasons for his “honorable but involuntary discharge”. Holding no press conferences, no dinners, no rallies, with no campaign signs to call his own, the only information that the public had on Greene came from televised interviews.

The idea of electing or ignorant candidates to represent Americans was played upon in Mike Judge’s “Idiocracy” in 2006. The movie chronicles two individuals who, after participating in a military experiment gone wrong, awake 500 years in the future to an America teeming with idiots. Political events have degenerated into something resembling rock concerts, executions are similar to monster truck rallies, politicians are elected based on their appearance alone, and the opinion of the general public can be completely jarred with just a few words. While the movie represents an entirely fabricated tale, the concept of political degeneration is very real as can be seen in this last election.

Not that Alvin Greene had poor intentions, because no one in their right mind would protest a rebounding economy. But Alvin Greene boasted illogical and completely unattainable goals on his website, stating, “I will stop house foreclosures,” also saying that upon election dental care, prenatal care, eye glasses, and wellness programs would be free. Greene believed that the right way for the economy to rebound would be to begin production of Alvin Greene action figures, and also claimed that Jim Demint single handedly started America’s recession. Some of Greene’s comments could even be misconstrued as racist, such as when he stated, “I am working with a South Carolina certified teacher… to make a school curriculum that will enable South Carolina children to compete with Indians and Chinese in math and science.” Greene exclaimed on his website that he would make, “sure the punishment fits the crime.”  After initially denying claims that he was set up to the race as a Republican plant, it is still curious as to why Greene ran for the Senate to begin with. Greene’s motives still unclear, he stated in an interview, “I am the best candidate for the United States Senate in South Carolina. And I am also the best person to be TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year.”

As the line between politics and pop culture becomes evermore blurred in this Idiocracy, it is even more troublesome that Greene walked away with nearly 30% of the vote.