Stephen

This is serious?


What are the realistic odds that he'll make a long run into this?


I'm very curious, and I have a lot of respect for Steven and Jon, both.


He's also running in both parties. Is it likely that the dems will let him?





I have a ton of questions about this, and didnt see anything on the first page of SoapBox. I'm sure there are greater minds in here than mine, so please....enlighten me.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 9:21 PM. Reason : lets get that out of the way.]

10/17/2007 9:14:05 PM

well

i believe he has to pay 35 g's to be on the republican ticket in SC and 2 g's for the democratic ticket. BUT, the dems have some type of board he has to be approved by, but the repubs have no such thing.


basically its a joke and he has no chance, BUT, this will probably take away the tiny bit of coverage the 2nd tier candidates might get, and so they're pretty much screwed.(not like they had a shot anyway, but you know...now no one will even talk about how little of a chance they have)

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 9:16 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2007 9:16:09 PM

Quote :

"basically its a joke and he has no chance"

I think Jon would be a better front runner, but he's been so public about not wanting to get into it.



What are your reasons for saying that? I'm not really familiar with the system as a whole.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 9:18 PM. Reason : the guy's hands are clean, so that's a plus.]

10/17/2007 9:17:37 PM

Stephen!

10/17/2007 9:20:21 PM

10/17/2007 9:21:35 PM

Quote :

"What are your reasons for saying that?"

for saying that it's a joke?

he's stephen colbert, a comedian. he has an alter ego on a comedy central television show where he channels bill o'reilly for laughs. he's running as both a democrat and a republican. he makes a living by satirizing the political system. he just wrote a book, and has been going on a book tour where he's been announcing, sometimes without even being asked, that he hasn't decided if he'll run or not...kind of like a lot of the actual candidates do. it's all been planned out before hand in the name of hilarious satire. it should be pretty entertaining, imo.

10/17/2007 9:24:44 PM

interesting.



So you think this is all a big plug for his book?

10/17/2007 9:25:44 PM

anyone not already running is an improvment IMHO so GG SC

10/17/2007 9:26:27 PM

So someone explain the process for me.



Talk to me like I'm an idiot.



What exactly is he doing and what will it take for him to be on the ballot when I go to the polls next november?

10/17/2007 9:29:33 PM

^^^no, no, no. the book is part of the process.

initial buzz from his closest supporters (read: fans) that he should run for pres.--->he writes the book--->invited on talk shows to promote book---->they inquire about his presidential hopes (or even if they dont, he talks about them)--->eventually he announces on a prime time show that he will run. sound familiar? this happens all the time.

its all a process. like most presidential candidates' lead up to their announcement, this has all been carefully planned out. except in this case, it's all a spoof on the system/process/candidates.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 9:34 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2007 9:31:49 PM

Makes sense.

can you put ^^ into a nutshell?

10/17/2007 9:32:52 PM

It seems like he could get a whole lot of momentum if Jon Stewart endorses him.



and you know he will.

10/17/2007 9:36:21 PM

As I said in the Chit Chat thread, I will be absolutely shocked if the name "Stephen Colbert" appears on any ballot, in the primaries or the general election. This is a gag. He will pursue it until he's blocked, use the process for a bunch of bits on his show, and be done with it.

Quote :

"What are the realistic odds that he'll make a long run into this?"

Zero.

Quote :

"It seems like he could get a whole lot of momentum if Jon Stewart endorses him. "

No, he couldn't. It's not like there's teeming hordes of people who watch Daily Show but have nothing to do with the Colbert Report. The two programs will milk as many stories/jokes out of the thing as they can, and that's it.

10/17/2007 9:48:09 PM

this is the process, GBalls
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/election/president.html

Quote :

"Step I: Primaries and Caucuses There are many people who would like to become President. Each of these people have their own ideas about how our government should work. Some of these people can belong to the same political party. That's where primaries and caucuses come in. In these elections, party members get to vote for the candidate that will represent their party in the upcoming general election. Step 2: National Conventions At the end of the primaries and caucuses, each party holds a national convention to finalize the selection of one Presidential nominee. During this time, each Presidential candidate chooses a running-mate (or Vice-Presidential candidate). Step 3: The General (or Popular) Election ..... [you should know the rest]"

10/17/2007 9:49:05 PM

Quote :

"It seems like he could get a whole lot of momentum if Jon Stewart endorses him."

yeah, like Grumpy said, that's a laughable notion.
It's not like there are a lot of Jon Stewart fans that will all of a sudden say "So Stewart likes this 'Colbert' fellow? hmm, i guess i'll give him a shot too!"

10/17/2007 9:50:28 PM

Quote :

"interesting. So you think this is all a big plug for his book?"

*Hand to forehead*

10/17/2007 9:50:57 PM

^^yeah, that notion is pretty off base.

BUT, i do think he'll make it onto AT LEAST the republican ballot in SC. like i said, all he has to do is put up 35 grand and he's in.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 9:52 PM. Reason : /]

10/17/2007 9:52:15 PM

Really, this fits his alter-ego perfectly.

I would tune in the day after he loses. It would be one of his more hilarious shows. The show the day after the Republicans lost the mid-terms in 2006 was hysterical.

His "The Word" segment he just sat there sad the whole time. He pulled out a whiskey bottle and a glass. The card on the right said "Fight It". Then it changed to "F#$% It" and he took a shot.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 10:01 PM. Reason : .]

10/17/2007 9:59:25 PM

Quote :

"BUT, i do think he'll make it onto AT LEAST the republican ballot in SC. like i said, all he has to do is put up 35 grand and he's in. "

Isn't he more likely to run as an independent?

10/17/2007 10:00:51 PM

he says he's running as a democrat and a republican.

and SC has not rule prohibiting that

10/17/2007 10:01:29 PM

Quote :

"he says he's running as a democrat and a republican. and SC has not rule prohibiting that"

"Which label gets me more votes America? Those who love our country, or those who hate it."

I love it.

Quote :

"On October 14, 2007, Stephen wrote Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times, where, among poking fun at Frank Rich and several presidential hopefuls, he stated he would run for president for the sum of 15 million dollars. On October 15, 2007 Colbert appeared on Larry King Live to discuss his new book, as well as rumors stating that he was interested in running for president. On the October 16, 2007 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Colbert, in character, announced "he is officially considering whether or not he will announce if he is considering running for President of the United States", and would make his announcement "on a more prestigious show". Fifteen minutes later, again in character, he announced his candidacy on The Colbert Report, saying he will run in the South Carolina primary as a Democrat, a Republican, and a favorite son of South Carolina. "

Ok. Which candidates will finish behind Colbert in the South Carolina primaries? This can be like the Monster Raving Loony Party in the UK. In the past, there have been legitimate politicians that have finished behind them and cause of that they realized the gig was up and disbanded.

[Edited on October 17, 2007 at 10:09 PM. Reason : /]

10/17/2007 10:03:06 PM

The whole Comic-running-for-President thing has already been done.

Try something new, Colbert.

10/17/2007 10:20:56 PM

10/17/2007 10:25:52 PM

First thing that came to mind.

10/17/2007 11:08:52 PM

I shit you not I'm going to vote for Stephen Colbert if I have to do a write-in ballot.

10/17/2007 11:38:58 PM

I'll only vote for Stephen if Ann Coulter is his veep.

10/18/2007 12:18:53 AM

Colbert announcing on the Daily Show...he'll announce: http://www.indecision2008.com/blog.jhtml?c=vc&videoId=118625

Colbert announcing on Colbert Report he'll run: http://www.indecision2008.com/blog.jhtml?c=vc&videoId=118597

10/18/2007 12:30:36 AM

I may be wrong, but I think The Equal Time Rule would prevent Mr. Colbert from ever officially declaring himself as a candidate for anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule

10/18/2007 1:07:12 AM

Supposedly, he's only running in the SC primaries; that's what I read in the morning WaPo Express at least. Given the current Republican slate, Colbert may actually have a chance. He is a native son in the state of SC after all.

10/18/2007 11:07:35 AM

Breaking news: Stephen Colbert's entry into the race has caused Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican Senator, to declare he will drop out tomorrow.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101800755.html

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 11:20 AM. Reason : /]

10/18/2007 11:20:27 AM

Quote :

"Supposedly, he's only running in the SC primaries; that's what I read in the morning WaPo Express at least. Given the current Republican slate, Colbert may actually have a chance. He is a native son in the state of SC after all."

Yes, and apparently he's running in both the Democrat and the Republican primaries.....

10/18/2007 11:23:15 AM

Quote :

"I may be wrong, but I think The Equal Time Rule would prevent Mr. Colbert from ever officially declaring himself as a candidate for anything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule"

Quote :

"However, there are four exceptions: if the air-time was in a documentary, bona fide news interview, scheduled newscast or an on-the-spot news event the equal-time rule is not valid."

I would think this would exempt Colbert from any worries considering the Colbert Report is a scheduled newscast (well ... for the most part).

I'd love to vote for the guy if I could - Experience isn't much of an issue in Presidential politics as long as you have a good head on your shoulders (nothing quite prepares you to be commander-in-chief anyways). At least that's what I've gathered from the many Presidential auto and self biographies I've read.

I can't wait to start hearing about his platform (I assume in the next few days we'll see how seriously he is going to take this joke - e.g. create a platform, interview or bring on guests from SC, do a few live shows from SC).

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 11:51 AM. Reason : .]

10/18/2007 11:46:59 AM

i'm actually kind of finding this unfunny

10/18/2007 12:55:40 PM

It's like The Pirate Captain, but on the national scale.

If he could make it on to a primary ballot, I think he could gain some momentum.

I also think if by some bizarre twist he won the national, he'd make a decent president.

10/18/2007 2:21:18 PM

in my dream world, he wins south carolina, and those lost electorial votes keep a republican winning the whitehouse

10/18/2007 2:30:28 PM

I have a Republican friend who swears Colbert is legitimately a conservative, and is not parodying O'Reilly.

I had another right leaning centrist friend that I had to point this out to.

10/18/2007 2:34:35 PM

yeah thats what i had heard as well...with his interview with larry king i got that impression when he said the whole "i think people just want to be left alone" thing...if he gets more of the repub vote in sc that would also help democrats...i doubt dems would flock away from hillary(or obama if something magically happens) to vote for him in large numbers

10/18/2007 2:38:00 PM

^^Well, he kind of has to be parodying somebody.

Cause if that's not parody, he's a fucking idiot, conservative or otherwise.

10/18/2007 2:54:19 PM

Quote :

"I have a Republican friend who swears Colbert is legitimately a conservative, and is not parodying O'Reilly. I had another right leaning centrist friend that I had to point this out to. "

If that don't say it all

10/18/2007 3:07:23 PM

diamond ace is that your way of saying hes not a conservative?

10/18/2007 3:12:56 PM

It's my way of saying that anyone with half a brain would know he's not a conservative.

10/18/2007 3:15:56 PM

Quote :

"I have a Republican friend who swears Colbert is legitimately a conservative, and is not parodying O'Reilly. I had another right leaning centrist friend that I had to point this out to. "

Go on the internet and find him speaking at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

10/18/2007 3:16:40 PM

^
*carl face*

10/18/2007 3:17:27 PM

Just show them clips of him out of character on talk shows.

10/18/2007 3:18:15 PM

he's done plenty of interviews out of character. he is certainly not conservative. diehard liberal? probably not. but certainly not conservative.

in one interview i heard, he said that he was pretty apolitical before he started working on the daily show, but that it had made him confront his political views on a daily basis.

10/18/2007 3:38:56 PM

i can't believe we're having a discussion of if Stephen Colbert actually agrees with "Stephen Colbert", but in any case, he had a good, out-of-character discussion on Fresh Air last week
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15116383

i've also heard him talk about how he doesn't let his young children watch his show and tries to not let them hear him in character because he doesn't want to confuse them between himself and his character.

and i get the same feeling from him as ^ does. A liberal, sure but not a die-hard left wing nutjob.
He is a strong Catholic - that's part of his character that is true.

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 4:35 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2007 4:33:37 PM

Quote :

"in my dream world, he wins south carolina, and those lost electorial votes keep a republican winning the whitehouse"

do you have any idea what a primary is???

because as far as i understand it, he's only running in the primary as of right now.

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 4:57 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2007 4:54:40 PM

Quote :

"I may be wrong, but I think The Equal Time Rule would prevent Mr. Colbert from ever officially declaring himself as a candidate for anything. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule"

actually, this is very simple. He doesn't apply to this rule because it says "broadcast" television. That applies only to free antenna television, which cable is not. CNN has openly discussed this in the past, because they go out of their way to track equal time to be fair on their own, but they are not required to. NBC does have to follow the rule, which is why they will not show Law & Order reruns that show Thompson on NBC, but will do so on TNT and Bravo.

10/18/2007 10:14:38 PM

Quote :

"I'll only vote for Stephen if Ann Coulter is his veep."

this is terrible, this idea

bleh...ann coulter. DIAHF

10/18/2007 10:22:18 PM

setting em up ------------------------------->

10/18/2007 11:27:52 PM