Colbert Off South Carolina Ballot

by: Chris Bowers

Thu Nov 01, 2007 at 15:36


Oh well:

Stephen Colbert's satirical run for the presidency has run into its first roadblock - his bid to be on the ballot in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary was rejected on Thursday.

The party's executive council voted 14 to 3 to refuse Colbert's application for a spot on the ballot.

"The general sense of the council was that he wasn't a serious candidate and that was why he wasn't selected to be on the ballot," said Joe Werner, the party's director. "There was discussion - I wouldn't call it a heated debate - but there was discussion about it."

There is no appeal process, Werner said, adding that the party will certify its ballot as final later Thursday with the South Carolina State Election Commission.

The Democrats had to decide whether they considered Colbert to be a bona fide Democrat who is nationally viable and has spent time campaigning in the state.

Must have been the bona fide Democratic part. Colbert actually polled reasonably well, defeating both Ron Paul and Dennis Kucnich in national matchups. He was also ahead of both Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson among voters under 30. And his Facebook group was over 1.3 million members, as of yesterday, making it the largest political Facebook group of all, I believe.

Even if Colbert is off the ballot, his brief campaign proved one thing: the age of irony is far from over in American culture. 

Chris Bowers :: Colbert Off South Carolina Ballot

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Colbert Off South Carolina Ballot | 11 comments
Is he off the Republican ballot? (0.00 / 0)

He didn't file (0.00 / 0)
At least that is what he said on last night's show.
[ Parent ]
Smells Like a Smoke Filled Room... (4.00 / 3)
I understand it's Colbert, but this seems to be a frightening process.  If someone conforms to the rules and yet can be rejected by a vote, without appeal, how does this same process prevent HRC or Obama being denied a spot on the ballot because of an unstated gender or racial bias?

What does "bone fide" Democrat mean?  If it's just a matter of a vote, it could mean anything.

Yeah (0.00 / 0)
Couldn't that disqualify any candidate depending on who's participating in the vote?

John McCain opposes the GI Bill.
[ Parent ]
Didn't get it anyway (0.00 / 0)
If Colbert was going to run, he should have done it sincerely, completely in character. Which would have meant running as a O'Reillian Republican.
I believe that (0.00 / 0)
he was, and was trying to get on both ballots... I was so looking forward to the debates.

I support John McCain because children are too healthy anyway.
[ Parent ]
Irony (0.00 / 0)
Even if Colbert is off the ballot, his brief campaign proved one thing: the age of irony is far from over in American culture.

Colbert may be great, but irony hardly needs him to prove its viability.

Any country founded on the rhetoric of liberty and the reality of slavery is going to take at least 500 years or so, just to deplete it's original supply.  And that's assuming--against all evidence--that it doesn't do anything to replenish its original supply.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

Colbert is more of a satirist, no? (0.00 / 0)
His art is to highlight the ironies that arise from such contradictions as you have mentioned.

His filing as a Democrat was either a satrical statement about the alleged Republican/Democrat differences, or his way of assuring that he would not be burdened with an actual candidacy, as it is correct that his character would likely run as a Republican.

Too bad, one debate is all I wanted - Republican, or Democratic - either one.  Preferably GOP, because they might just forget that he is playing a character and start agreeing with him.



"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
I Think It's Possible He Was Aiming To Get Dems To Agree With Him--Or Force Them Not To (0.00 / 0)
A good satirist will always keep you guessing, so it's impossible to say what he intended.  But I could really see his character bringing the "you're all in league with Osama" shctick right into the middle of the debate, and forcing them to actually have to come up with a sensible come-back.

Better in the South Carolina primary than in a mid-October debate.  Might even actually make someone have to think!

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
True (0.00 / 0)
If the correspondent's dinner performance proved one thing - its that he's not prone to self-censorship.

I see him as lampooning the entire political establishment/culture and he has the perfect character with which to do so. It fits well with your concept of "unreality" on the part of conservatives.  His character makes "real" the "unreal" conservative ideals - if you can follow what I mean.  By doing so, he reveals how whacky they actually are - the fact that its takes a fictional character to make the political ideals seem more realistic, is to me, a very sweet irony.  I've always had an affinity for the absurd, and humans rarely disappoint.

 

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Super-Delegate (0.00 / 0)
If I had been the chair of the South Carolina Democratic party I would've announced that while he is off the ballot, one appointed South Carolinian super-delegate would, in fact, vote for Stephan Colbert at the Convention.
Colbert Off South Carolina Ballot | 11 comments
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