While the Stephen Colbert presidential campaign may be no more than a joke or publicity stunt, at the least one group is taking it seriously.
According to the Washington Post, the Republican polling organization Public Opinion Strategies surveyed 1,000 potential voters nationwide about who they would vote for in primary races - and while Colbert wasn't topping the charts by any stretch of the imagination, his numbers were higher than some analysts would expect.
Because it was held nationally, the poll does not necessarily represent Colbert's chances in South Carolina, where he is running as a self-proclaimed "favorite son," a term that refers to a politician who runs mainly off of popularity in his home state. But the fact that a comedian with no political experience was even represented on a national poll may be a victory for Colbert and may help his chances at influencing the race in some way.
Among Democratic candidates, 2.3 percent of voters polled picked Colbert - a number that pales in comparison to frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) 40 percent, Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) 19 percent and former Sen. John Edwards' 12 percent.
But among second-tier Democratic candidates, Colbert did relatively well: He came close to Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who polled at 2.7 percent and edged out Tufts' own favorite son, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who received 2.1 percent of the vote.
As he has declared - seriously or not - that he will seek to run as both a Democrat and a Republican in South Carolina, the poll also included Colbert's name on the Republican side. He received less than 1 percent of the vote in that poll.
Though Colbert's numbers may seem high for an entertainer who has been in the race for just over a week, it is not the first time the host has made an impact on national politics. In 2006, he spoke at the annual White House Correspondent's Dinner and, standing 10 feet away from President George Bush, delivered a highly critical and sarcastic speech to a room full of politicians and journalists. The same year, he made it onto Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.
But poll numbers and influence aside, junior Roxanne Stockard, a native of Columbia, S.C., said that in her experience, voters there tend to look past candidates they see as irrelevant - Colbert included.
"I think the majority of democratic voters in South Carolina would rather vote for someone who has a chance of winning everything, because there are a lot of politically conscious people, at least in my area," she said. "And I think they would see Stephen Colbert's running as more as a joke than anything else, or maybe as a stunt to put the others' campaigns in terms of his platform."
Whether Colbert is joking or not, the attention he has received thus far could end up handing the comedian some less-than-funny consequences, including fines or even jail time. According to articles from ABC News, The Politico and a variety of political blogs, Colbert's run could potentially violate federal election laws that prevent corporate contributions to presidential campaigns.
Because Colbert's show is funded by Comedy Central and is used to promote his campaign, the Federal Election Commission could decide that it counts as a campaign contribution and accuse Colbert of breaking the law.
But in spite of the attention Colbert has received, Professor of Political Science Jeff Berry said Colbert's run is not a serious run and is unlikely to affect the race even on a small scale.
"The big question is, what is the constituency of financial support that the candidate is going to be able to draw on? In this case, there isn't one," Berry said. "This is Colbert trying to promote his career as a comedian and not his career as a politician."
Freshman and South Carolina native Evie Copeland agreed.
"Some young people will [vote for Colbert], but South Carolina has a pretty bad voter turnout for young people, so I can't see him getting many votes," she said. "But I think he's funny, and it's funny that he's running."
- by Matt Skibinski
