By Cavan Sieczkowski: Subscribe to Cavan's RSS feed
January 19, 2012 9:26 AM EST
Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain will join forces and hold a rally together in South Carolina on Friday. The event is entitled "THE ROCK ME LIKE A HERMAN CAIN: SOUTH CAIN-OLINA PRIMARY RALLY." Colbert, a comedic satirist, announced plans to run for the White House last Thursday on this Comedy Central show.
In the official press release, Colbert explains the partnership with former GOP contender Herman Cain - who is still on the SC ballot: "Herman is the only former candidate who truly shares my values. It's like our values were separated at birth. And our ethics are at least first cousins."
Since Colbert missed the Nov. 1 deadline, he cannot get onto the SC ballot himself. So, the comedian is using Cain as proxy. "Because Cain and I are so similar, I think that if this Saturday Herman Cain were to get a significant number of votes, that would be a sign that voters are hungry for a Stephen Colbert campaign," Colbert announced.
Cain seems happy with the partnership. "On Stephen Colbert's endorsement of himself as Herman Cain, I find it very clever and humorous, as it should be," Cain said on FOX News. "Anyone who finds what Mr. Colbert is doing offensive, should simply lighten up. To be perfectly clear, I will not be assuming Stephen Colbert's identity. We are very different when it comes to the color of our - hair."
Despite the fact that many may not take Colbert seriously, he is gaining some perceptible traction.
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Chris Cassidy, a representative for JESS3, a creative interactive agency helping Google visualize its search data relevant to 2012 campaigns, noted the spike in Colbert's traffic.
"Google yesterday published a graphic showing Colbert's South Carolina search traffic compared with GOP presidential hopefuls. It shows a steep spike in search volume last Friday -- the day that Colbert discussed running for president," Cassidy told IBTimes.
The graphic clearly shows Colbert's Web search interest climbing higher than Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich on Friday, Jan. 13. Refer to the graphic at the upper-left hand side of the Web page.
"Only two candidates have since had a better day among South Carolinian search-users," said Cassidy.
Though this all might seem like a farce, it was revealed via multiple news sources on Jan. 10 that Colbert placed ahead of John Huntsman in SC, according to Public Policy Polling figures. Leading in the poll, released Tuesday, was Mitt Romney with 27 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich (23 percent), Rick Santorum (18 percent), Ron Paul (8 percent) and Rick Perry (7 percent). Last is former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who also trails Colbert, with 1 percent, according to Reuters.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, before uniting with Herman Cain, Colbert declared the formation of an "exploratory committee for president of the United States of South Carolina." He turned over his super-PAC to fellow Comedy Central host and friend Jon Stewart.
Colbert is notorious for his on-going skit mocking federal campaign laws, particularly that of the so-called super-PACs, a new sort of committee that has the right to collect an unlimited amount of money from corporations, unions and individuals to spend on campaign ads for candidates, as long as it does not coordinate with the candidate or his/her campaign, according to The L.A. Times.
"So this is a difficult decision," said Colbert on Thursday's show. "I talked it over with my spiritual advisor. I've talked it over with my money." He then brought on his lawyer Trevor Potter, asking if he could run and still keep his super-PAC. "You cannot be a candidate and run a super PAC. That would be coordinating with yourself," said Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission. He told the host that he "could have it run by somebody else."
"I wouldn't even want to create the appearance of electoral skulduggery," Colbert scoffed, before inviting Jon Stewart onstage, in hopes that he will be the one to head Colbert's super-PAC. Stewart can run the committee so long as he does not coordinate with Colbert. He also has the right to employ Colbert's super-PAC staff, Potter said, "as long as they have no knowledge of Stephen's plans."
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