A third-party candidate in South Carolina

No crank calls, no hate mail, no memorable attacks.



That's either a good sign or a dismal one for Tom Clements' U.S. Senate campaign.

I spoke with him at his Columbia, S.C. campaign headquarters the other day on Sumter St. near the Roly Poly. He's the Democrats' unofficial candidate against U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, considering that the Democratic Party's own nominee Alvin Greene ... well, you know.

Anyway, back to Mr. Clements (He's actually pretty annoyed by all the media attention Greene has been getting simply for being strange). Clements, who is running as a Green Party candidate, says his campaign events have drawn interest from people who are relieved to have an alternative to DeMint and Greene.

Well, OK, maybe not everyone's relieved, admits Clements, putting on a back-woods accent as he recalls a hostile radio show caller.

"'You're just wunna dem tree-huggin' liberals, aint cha?'" he rasps.

I shift uncomfortably. It's unnerving to see a political candidate -- even a first-timer like Clements -- so unguarded.

He also makes no attempt to ingratiate himself with his interviewer. That is, I still don't know if he has ever had an Indian friend, loves Indian food, or has been to India. Nor does Clements ask me what state in India I am from (For the record: I'm from the state of Florida, but I was born in Illinois).

Clements, himself, was born in Savannah, Ga., in 1951 but grew up in small-town Georgia, first in Claxton before moving to Waynesboro. His mother was a math teacher and his father was a high school principal in Burke County, Ga. While Clements' father was trying to integrate the high schools, they received threatening phone calls and yard vandalism, and decided to moved north of Atlanta.

Clements entered the Senate race to challenge DeMint, elected in 2004, before Greene won the Democratic nomination in June. Then came Greene's flood of oh-my headlines, from his felony obscenity charge to his proposal of self-styled action figures as a plan to create jobs.

And Clements' campaign got busier.

The candidate, who is divorced, holds a bachelor's degree from Emory University and a master's degree from the University of Georgia. After starting out as a strip mine regulator, Clements spent 13 years working on nuclear issues for Greenpeace International, traveling to Europe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.

He was the director of the Washington, D.C.-based Nuclear Control Institute, which focuses on preventing nuclear proliferation, spent two years in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and worked for a human rights organization in Colombia.



Since 2008 he's kept his focus on nuclear issues as the Southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator of Friends of the Earth. He has worked on Savannah River Site issues for about 30 years, he figures.

While Democratic candidates shun Greene and Republicans try to use him against Democrats, Clements says he hopes Greene quits the race and endorses him for the sake of sending more votes his way.



Meanwhile, Clements is casting DeMint as someone who has abandoned his home state to play Tea Party kingmaker for candidates in other states. DeMint is heavily favored to win a second term.

Still, as I chat with Clements, it's obvious that he's less frustrated by his slim odds of toppling DeMint, and more perplexed by the national rhetoric.

Holding a campaign flier for Rand Paul, a Republican Tea Party candidate in Kentucky whom DeMint has endorsed, Clements reads the heading: "Stolen Liberty."



"What are these people talking about? Who stole our liberty?" he says.

The closest thing to a tea party Clements has is a basket of green tea bags bearing campaign stickers and an assortment of Luna energy bars in the lobby of his headquarters.



"This is the kind of rhetoric that is dangerous, and it's playing to a narrow set of individuals," he says.

"Everybody is for the Constitution and against evil, but somehow they've spun it into this false patriotism that doesn't make any sense."



Though Clements, DeMint and Greene are the only U.S. Senate candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot, celebrity chef Nathalie Dupree recently announced her write-in candidacy.



So, South Carolina voters -- Would you vote for a third-party candidate in the U.S. Senate race? What about a write-in candidate? 

Do you forgive Alvin Greene his bizarre ways and refusal to produce a facial expression? Or does Sen. DeMint best reflect your values and priorites?