Colbert, Be Fake All the Way

I don't understand the point of Stephen Colbert's candidacy in the South Carolina presidential primaries. The comedian is actually taking steps to have his name listed on the ballots of both the Republican and Democratic primaries, which will take place on January 19 and 26, respectively.

A fake run for office could be entertaining. Other comedians and satirists have done it in the past. It's the official part that I don't get. Is it going to be any funnier if Colbert will actually get some votes? I don't know how the delegate selection process works exactly, but at least in the Democratic primaries, it isn't a winner-take-all system. What if Colbert actually gets a delegate or two elected to one of the parties' nomination convention? Hypothetically, it could happen.

Also, now Colbert will actually have to adhere to campaign laws, which, considering the fakeness of his run, is kind of ridiculous. The Colbert Report production team has already hired lawyers to make sure they don't violate election law. What if some smart-ass decides to go to court to take his show off the air in SC till the day after the primary because of equal time laws? The officialness will put restraints on him that a truly fake campaign wouldn't have to deal with.

If Colbert wants to run a fake campaign, it should be fake all the way. As it is, he's only pretending to run in SC, without any hope or aspiration to win, so he should really pretend. He should do all his crazy stuff without having to pay thousands of dollars to the political parties to become an official candidate.

Here's an entertaining thought: maybe President Bush will now try to get a United States Attorney to prosecute Colbert for election violations as vengeance for Colbert's White House Correspondents Dinner speech. Nah, that would never happen...