Colbert for President?

Chris. · Oct 17, 2007

EW YORK (AP) — Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report," tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.

"I shall seek the office of the President of the United States," announced Colbert on his Comedy Central show Tuesday, as red, white and blue balloons fell around him.

Colbert had recently satirized the coyness of would-be presidential candidates by refusing to disclose whether he would seek the country's highest office — a refusal that often came without any prompting.

Shortly before making the announcement, Colbert appeared on "The Daily Show" (the show which spawned Colbert's spin-off) and played cagy, claiming he was only ready to consider a White House bid. He entered the studio set pulled by a bicycle pedaled by Uncle Sam and quickly pulled out a bale of hay and a bottle of beer to show that he was "an Average Joe."

Colbert said his final decision would be announced on a "more prestigious show," which turned out to be his own.

"After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call," said Colbert.

His recent best-seller, "I Am American (And So Can You!)" allowed him to mock the now-standard approach to a White House run, complete with a high-profile book tour.

Colbert said he planned to run in South Carolina, "and South Carolina alone." The state, one of the key early primaries, is also Colbert's native state. Earlier this week, South Carolina public television station ETV invited Colbert to announce his candidacy on its air.

Exactly how far the mock conservative pundit planned to stretch his impression of a presidential candidate wasn't clear. Colbert rarely breaks character on camera, including at his memorable speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last year.

The Comedy Central host has often mobilized his fans ("Colbert Nation"), encouraging them to vote to have a Hungarian bridge named after him, for example, or to vandalize Wikipedia.com with his version of "truthiness" and "wikiality."

The comedian said he would run as both a Democrat and Republican. He earlier explained the strategy: "I can lose twice." He claimed three running mate possibilities: Colbert-Huckabee, Colbert-Putin or Colbert-Colbert.

Minutes after announcing his presidential pursuit, Colbert welcomed CBS political analyst Jeff Greenfield to ask how he had changed the race.

"This is going to be one for the books," said Greenfield.

A spokesman for Colbert said he would be unavailable for further comment Tuesday evening.

In a guest column for Maureen Dowd in Sunday's New York Times, Colbert wrote: "I am not ready to announce yet — even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."
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I don't really know if this is serious or not because come on, it's Colbert, but it was posted on AP.

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFzxF7XLwi7Il2DVEE6la0NVo--gD8SAVFE00

Kate · Oct 17, 2007

If he actually ran, I'd vote for him.

Will · Oct 17, 2007

He'd be the hands-down winner of the election, though I'm not so sure he'd be able to handle the Office of the President of the United States.

silve2 · Oct 17, 2007

Will said: ↑

He'd be the hands-down winner of the election, though I'm not so sure he'd be able to handle the Office of the President of the United States.
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Agreed.

But it would be really funny though.

Chris. · Oct 18, 2007

silve2 said: ↑

Agreed.

But it would be really funny though.
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It'd be funny until we realized what we just did to ourselves

Mark · Oct 18, 2007

I saw this last night on both shows. Absolutely hilarious. I wonder how far he'll go with this, because I can certainly see him winning a primary with his popularity. He'd probably bring out the largest youth vote in South Carolina history.

There's a $25,000 sign-up fee to run, so he had Doritos sponsor his candidacy tonight. !

esaul17 · Oct 18, 2007

OMFG SYLAR said: ↑

It'd be funny until we realized what we just did to ourselves
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Yeah. I think America did that two years in a row with Bush .

While I'm a fan of Stephen Colbert, I would be quite disappointed in voters if he...won. But I think if he actually won the whole election he would probably stand down...

That summary was just hilarious though.

Tim · Oct 18, 2007

I think this is just a publicity stunt, albeit a funny one. Colbert is a smart man,
so I expect a lot of great material to come out of this for his show.

@esaul17: WOW... Bush was voted in two YEARS in a row. I thought those elections went by fast, but DAMN!

Mark · Nov 1, 2007

So much for being South Carolina's favorite son: Despite polling ahead of at least three of the candidates who've been stumping hard in South Carolina, Comedy Central faux conservative Stephen Colbert's bid to get on the ballot for the upcoming Democratic primary in his home state was shot down on Thursday (November 1) by the executive committee of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Colbert's bid was voted down 13-3.

The Doritos-sponsored campaign, which was announced last month, seemed to be on the road to legitimacy this week when Colbert's campaign paid the $2,500 filing fee necessary to get into the race just before the noon deadline on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Less than two hours later, though, the executive committee of the state's party crushed Colbert's bid when it voted not to certify the candidacy, according to Keiana Page, a communications assistant in the state Democratic Committee's office.

Using criteria such as whether the candidate was recognized in the national news media as a legitimate candidate and whether they'd actively campaigned in the state, the committee put the kibosh on the Colbert bid.

One of those who voted in favor of certifying Colbert was South Carolina Representative and social-work administrator Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who told MTV News that she thought having Colbert on the ballot would be a good way to bring a national spotlight on issues of concern to her state. "Also, quite frankly, I think we — and I mean elected officials and party officials — take ourselves a bit too seriously and I think an injection of humor would have added to the process," Cobb-Hunter said, adding that she was also impressed with Colbert's donation of his campaign funds to the Donors Choose program, which helps teachers get much-needed resources for their classrooms.

"I was looking forward to seeing if [Colbert's participation] would increase participation by young people," Cobb-Hunter added. "We'll never know now." She described Thursday's debate by the Executive Council of the Democratic Party Executive Committee as "vigorous," spearheaded by a "well-organized" group of 13 that she said seemed determined to keep Colbert off the ballot. "I would love to see that kind of energy put toward party building — they were ginned up," she said, adding jokingly, "[Like,] 'We have to save the state from Stephen Colbert!' Which I think is hilarious."

On the Wednesday night edition of his show, "The Colbert Report," the comic said he had given up his dream of trying to get on the ballot as both a Republican and Democrat when he learned that the fee to run as a Republican was $35,000, which is well over the $5,000 he said he was allowed to spend based on election rules.

He may not have met the criteria of being considered a legitimate candidate by the national media, but AP reports that Colbert did appear on Sunday at the University of South Carolina in Columbia to stump for his candidacy (or maybe it was for his recently released, best-selling book, "I Am America [And so Can You!]"?) telling several hundred fans that he would, if elected, "crush the state of Georgia."

A recent national poll by a Republican polling firm of likely 2008 voters showed that in his short time in the running, Colbert was coming in at 2.3 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, which put him in fifth place above Governor Bill Richardson (2.1 percent), Congressman Dennis Kucinich (2.1 percent) and former Senator Mike Gravel (less than 1 percent).
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FUCK.

Fear · Nov 13, 2007

If he did run, for real, I might vote for him. But I like Obama a lot, so I don't know.

Mark · Nov 13, 2007

I suppose you didn't read the post directly above yours.

Daniel · Nov 13, 2007

That was gold.

Maybe the boys from The Chaser should run for PM?

Harlz · Nov 13, 2007

Daniel said: ↑

That was gold.

Maybe the boys from The Chaser should run for PM?
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Ahh too bad it's too late!

bugger the economy, I'd vote for them just 'cos they are like the opposite of Howard!

Matt · Nov 22, 2007

Fuck.

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Colbert for President?

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Kate beat me senseless LPA Super Member

Will LPA Addicted VIP LPA Addicted VIP

silve2 Banned

Chris. LPA Super Member Über Member

Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

esaul17 antichrist

Tim My perversion power is accumulating LPA Super Member

Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

Fear Well-Known Member

Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

Daniel Run for your life. LPA Super Member

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