By Kayla Walker
Before his Oct. 17 announcement on his show “The Colbert Report” to run for president, Stephen Colbert wrote a column for Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, “I am not ready to announce yet-even though it’s clear that the voters are desperate for a white, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative,” Colbert wrote. Although none of the presidential candidates seem worried about Colbert’s announcement, the aforementioned statement is a great example of why they should be.
Colbert, 42, is of Irish and French descent and is very forthcoming about his participation as a Sunday school teacher at his Catholic church. However, Colbert’s greatest quality lies in the subtext of his statement in The New York Times. Colbert is clearly not afraid to make fun of himself-or our country.
On his Comedy Central show, Colbert plays the role of a right-wing, narcissistic pundit. Colbert and his former employer, and good friend, Jon Stewart, are the greatest political satirists of our generation and have found a way to tap into that Mecca of demographics, the 18 to 49 year olds. All anyone needs to do to understand Colbert’s influence is to walk on any college campus. Professors are quick to point out that college students receive most of their news from “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show.” A Rasmussen Reports poll released last week showed that 28 percent of likely voters aged 18 to 29 support Colbert when pitted against Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. In a potential race between Fred Thompson and Clinton, Colbert’s popularity jumps to 31 percent.
Colbert, appeared on “Meet the Press” on Oct. 21, to announce he would run in both the Republican and Democratic primaries only in South Carolina, his home state, so that he could “lose twice.” Colbert’s sense of humor will surely be his strongest instrument in the primary elections, especially with regards to young voters who have become jaded with the political system.
Although he makes his living being sarcastic, Colbert should still be taken seriously. This year, Colbert’s nightly audience has averaged 1.3 million viewers nationwide, 874,000 of them from the 18 to 49-year-old demographic. According to an article in The Atlantic Monthly, Colbert actually stands a chance at winning a delegate for the nominating conventions, if only because of the uncertainty surrounding his young fans who do not normally vote in primary elections.
On the Colbert fan Web site, www.indecision08.com, in a completely unscientific poll, 80 percent of responders voted “Yes! Finally a candidate who understands how ridiculous he is” when asked whether they’d vote for Colbert. Although Colbert is a comedian, he appears to be in on the joke. His supporters, the “Colbert Nation,” are responsible for having a Hungarian bridge named after him and recently raised more than $40,000 to help South Carolinian schools, reported to be more than donations made in the names of Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
A Facebook group named “1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T. Colbert” was able to surpass its goal in eight days, currently having more than 1.2 million members. Similar groups for other candidates have floundered in comparison. The group boasts, “It’s taken Obama’s 1,000,000 Strong Group more than 9 months to get 381,000 members, We beat it in less than 5 days!” “1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T. Colbert” also links visitors to www.rockthevote.com and claims that over 3,500 people have registered to vote through the group.
In a post in another Facebook group titled “Colbert ’08,” creator Rick Kowalczyk of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences said, “The reason I’m supporting him is because he is, in my opinion, drawing attention to all that is wrong with the system and by doing so, inspiring people to do something about it.”
Colbert is not a novice at finding fault in the system. At the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006, Colbert caused quite the controversy when he said, to a house full of uncomfortable reporters shifting in their seats,
“But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.”
Colbert is known for his observations and criticisms of the political system and the traditional press, of which he declares to be a junkie.
Colbert never expects anyone to take him seriously, which is a shame, really. As Colbert pointed out on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” “I don’t want to be president. I want to run for president. There’s a difference.” I was actually looking forward to Colbert’s performance as president. It couldn’t have been a bigger farce than the current administration.
Kayla Walker is a senior print journalism student. You may e-mail her at [email protected].
(Julia Gardiner)