The two-party presidential campaign of Comedy Central personality Stephen Colbert has been derailed. His plan was to run in one primary state, his native South Carolina, as both a Democrat and a Republican. Apparently, after doing a little comparison shopping, the modest 2.5K Democratic entry fee was attractive, while the 35K Republican charge was not, so Colbert whittled down his objective to just the Democratic side. The state Democratic organization threw three votes his way, in favor of listing him on the ballot, but 13 turned thumbs down, deciding that their primary should not be a prop for his comedy stunt.
RBR/TVBR observation: Colbert seemed to take the results of the committee vote in stride during his 11/1/07 show, if you don’t count the shedding of bitter tears or remorse and the utterance of mournful wails as a negative reaction. He was informed on air of the vote (of course he would’ve known the results hours earlier) by one of the committee members, who thanked him for the attention. She suggested he spend the next four years establishing actual credentials if he wishes to make another run. We think the SC Democrats ultimately made the correct call – it’s one thing to mock candidates from the sidelines, and at that task Colbert is one of the best. But we doubt he’s going to spend the next four years establishing himself as a viable candidate, and if you aren’t a viable candidate, you don’t belong on the ballot.
