Well here's a little wrinkle to Stephen Colbert's faux run for President: could he be breaking election laws?
That's what they're talking about over at Politico.com. Kenneth Vogel explains that even though it's a joke, he could be violating election laws if Comedy Central keeps spending money on the campaign and promoting it on the network. And Marc Elias, a Washington D.C. attorney says that just because it's a joke doesn't mean you get to run by a different set of rules.
This seems to me to be satire, another goof by Colbert similar to telling fans to go to Wikipedia and his guitar showdown and other causes he has taken up. Of course, if for some reason Colbert has to end his campaign, that might be the greatest publicity yet. He could turn that into a cause and talk about how the political system is unfair. It's going to be interesting to see how serious Colbert is (not serious as his real intent to run for prez but serious as in really filling out the paperwork, getting on the ballot, etc) and where this all leads.
Maybe other Comedy Central stars could run for President, to give equal time on the network? How about Jon Stewart and Sarah Silverman?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-19-2007 @ 3:16PM
AutomagV said...
Politicians are whiny complaining bitches anyway. I hope Colbert does run and ruins the curve for those corrupt bastards.
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10-22-2007 @ 8:07AM
grumpyoldman said...
This guy hasn't been funny since Strangers With Candy went off the air.....
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10-19-2007 @ 3:28PM
Oreo said...
The way we have elections in the country are bigger jokes than Colbert running.
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10-19-2007 @ 3:47PM
nukethewhalesagain said...
This is the second time in a row you guys have done a Colbert story right after a Jon Stewart story.
Looks like someone has already started with the equal time.
Yeah I don't even get that joke myself.
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10-19-2007 @ 3:48PM
Tim Dorr said...
Wasn't his whole opening segment last night about this very issue? Sure he's making a joke of it, but it's very apparent that they know the issues at hand here. If anything, Viacom will likely be making a donation to the Colbert campaign to legitimize the funding.
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10-19-2007 @ 4:04PM
David said...
Funny, I don't remember this issue coming up when Pat Paulsen ran.
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10-19-2007 @ 4:59PM
r.r.r. said...
Go Colbert! This whole thing is hysterical and awesome! :) I really don't think he's seriously running for anything. But who knows really? I heart Colbert no matter what he does!!!
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10-19-2007 @ 5:32PM
Paul said...
As far as campaign funding, they addressed it last night on the show, and I think financially they'll be very smart about things.
As for the whole "equal time" factor, I believe that Stephen will open the floor and open his show up to anyone who's running (for either party, since he's seeking nominations for both). The other candidates may or may not show up, but either way it'll make for great comedy.
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10-19-2007 @ 6:48PM
ZEK said...
So done before...does no one remember Pat Paulsen????
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10-19-2007 @ 7:06PM
bd said...
Colbert already did this story.
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