I doubt that RP will get the republican nomination and I'm sure he knows that. In the end he will run as a independent candidate. The sole purpose of his republican candidacy is to get all the media presence.

Wish I had two upvotes. Comment and name.

I don't know if he's doing it to siphon votes away from one person....that seems a bit silly. But I really wish he would've chosen another election year for this prank. This is an important one, and he's going to make a mockery out of it. I am upset because I think Ron Paul will lose more votes than anybody from this stunt. Kind of a dick move on Colbert's part.

Its really not important because votes do not matter. Fucking upvotes on here hold more weight than your or anyones vote for president.

I'll bet he ran in 2008 for the sole purpose of usurping Ron Paul in 2012. That's the only reasonable explanation for him running in his home state 2 times in a row.

Ah, its good to know someone in here is thinking.

Really?

I mean.... really? Stop it. Stop it now.

He's doing this a. because he can and b. because he is showing how fucked the system is with things like his super pac. Yes it will undoubtedly siphon votes from EVERYONE, but he's not going out to fuck over Paul. That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard.

Not to mention it could be part of a greater bid to run as an Independent in the general election if getting his way in to this primary doesn't work. Who said he has to run for the republican nomination? I know thats all he's said he's going to do so far, but we dont know what the long term game plan is.

I think the non-zero amount of time people are going to spend talking about Stephen Colbert's presidential run is absolutely going to cut into time people could be talking about Ron Paul's actual candidacy. Even more so, this cuts into time that Stephen Colbert himself could be talking about Ron Paul, and not just mocking the other Republicans. Paul is not doing this just "because he can" and to "show how fucked the system is". The fact that Colbert could potentially run is actually a point about how openly democratic our society is supposed to be, and the only people who are going to be impressed by that are those who weren't paying attention last election. The ones who were know this country is running out of time and the sooner we get Paul in office, the sooner we can get back on track. But all the talk about the two-party system and how corrupt politicians are can only be productive insofar as it helps get not just somebody like but the individual himself, Ron Paul, get the nomination, so we can proceed to getting as close to an actual, real debate with Obama about the direction this country has been going.

That Colbert lampoons this process is not the same as actively, actually challenging it, and suggesting that any media coverage of the Republican nomination that doesn't flatly support Ron Paul is not necessarily detrimental to his campaign is being hopelessly optimistic or simply nihilistic.

Okay, fair enough, but he's not out to sabotage anyone's campaign and that's all I want to say on the matter.

Whether it's his intent or not should not matter all that much; how much say does he have over anything else he does on his show? It's impossible to tell. I can see that you don't see much correlation between a real election and a comedy show, but I'm pretty sure there are DC politicos and analysts that do, and considering how artificial and superficial American culture is, the public follows suit. People not just like but who specifically are Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have an implicit moral responsibility to the people who watch them to make it obvious when they're telling the truth and when it's all an act. The election is in far too meta a territory for the difference to remain distinct, and either way, whether they spend time seriously or not, it's still very much real time.

I can see that you don't see much correlation between a real election and a comedy show

See, this is why I responded as simply as I did. I don't feel like debating this, but please don't assume things about my knowledge on such issues. The thing about all of this that I'm sure you understand or not that if Colbert indeed moves forward with this that it could very likely mean more than just being a joke. Who's to say he, while being a jokester, isn't deadpan serious off camera about becoming President? By all means, he'd be just as good for the country in my opinion and probably the world. There's always a certain degree to which it's advertising his show, but I also think this has a lot to do with not doing such, too. After all, this is a presidential race, for goodness sake. He's not going to go in just to say "watch my show" and be done with it. I think of this as a really, really great wrench thrown into the cogs of boring reality and bad partisan politics.

I also didn't want to say it before because I don't like to admit it myself, but how much of a chance does Paul have anyway, especially in a heavily pro-war state such as SC? He doesn't. It's going to be Romney. Paul may take 2nd, but having family from SC I can tell you right now their mindset will be to side with someone like Santorum or Perry. Colbert getting in this will indeed affect Paul, but it will also help cut the bullshit out of the race, such as Perry and Gingrich. South Carolina is only State #3 out of 50, so even if Paul loses there it DOESN'T mean the end like the media will tell you it does.

Wait until they start prepping for primary #4. South Carolina isn't going to sway to Paul. You can downvote me for saying this, as I don't want to believe it either, but sometimes we have to face the facts and realize the truth of the matter, which is the general population of Conservatives there don't lean to his side.

I've been a Colbert fan since he first started, so let me say I may be a bit biased. Having said that, I really have to disagree with you here. For one, the fact that Colbert could potentially run was also an issue in 2008, and it came down to the Democratic party in South Carolina not allowing him to. The fact that he could potentially run again in 2012, at the end of the day, is owed all to MONEY. He has public recognition, but to ever truly get the ball rolling as a candidate you need crazy amounts of cash.

To me, there is nothing openly democratic about that- or our system in general. Go ahead and try to run for president in your home state. Go ahead. I'll wait.

It is not Colbert's job to throw his weight behind an actual candidate. He is a comedian, a satirist, and with things like this bid for the 2012 election- a very important performance artist. At the end of the day candidates come and go, and even a president can't hang around for over a decade. What Colbert is seeking to do is, yes, show how fucked the system is because it is the system itself that needs attention. Not any particular candidate. In fact, if the system improved, I guess I'd be "hopelessly optimisitc" enough to think that we'd have better candidates, too.

Ron Paul is polling ~10% in SC, compared to around 20% for Gingrich and 30% for Romney. He's already a non-factor there.

Source

recent polls shows Ron Paul surging to 20%

Link?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmI7RO10LEk&feature=youtu.be

He's still 10 points behind Romney, and compared to the results of other polls, that poll is an aberration.

in south carolina, we ignore who wins 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place because the real story is who comes in 4th and 5th

Remember Pat Paulsen?

He did this 4 yrs ago too

Edit - I think Doritos "sponsored" him then

Stephen Colbert is a very popular television personality. Even intellectuals view him as a satirical genius/luminary to the point of outright adulation. This submission will end up being divisive and will accomplish very little as far as discourse is concerned.

This is messed up, these idiots complain about our political process every day, yet inject themselves into an election as a fucking publicity stunt for their TV show.

Asshole.

I think the point they are trying make is how corrupt the "Super-PAC" thing is. Read the press release they put out, and you will see what I mean.

No, I think he is running to siphon votes away from Mitt Romney so Obama will win his re-election.

Obama will win against Romney anyway

The filing deadline was in November. Stephen Colbert will not be on the ballot.

No

oh my god, if you actually believe what you just proposed, cut off all of your fucking fingers so you can never type anything that anyone reads ever again.

I think it's pretty disrespectful whatever his reason might be. This isn't a joke to anyone but him.

Well, It is to me.

I think its disrespectful that Bachmann, Santorum, and Perry ever entered, too.

Yeah, Bachman Santorum is the worst.

In reality it's just too late for Ron Paul to become the front runner. Romney was the front runner long before the primaries.

Colbert is just making a of mockery of the system. However he is likely to take votes away from 2nd or 3rd place Paul, whether that matters is debatable

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lol @ "stymied" because I lol at any use of the term "stymied" in any context.

That's a funny fucking word right there, "stymied."

lol @ "stymied" because I lol at any use of the term "stymied" in any context.

That's a funny fucking word right there, "stymied."