Colbert Announces Run for President

By JAKE COYLE,

Posted: 2007-10-17 10:43:46

Filed Under: TV News

NEW YORK (Oct. 17) - Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for president on "The Colbert Report" on Tuesday night, tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race.

"I shall seek the office of the President of the United States," announced Colbert on his Comedy Central show, as red, white and blue balloons fell around him.

Photo Gallery: Man of the Year

Brendan Smialowski, Getty Images

Stephen Colbert's wild ride has hit another high note with the announcement that he's been named the Associated Press' Celebrity of the Year, beating out JK Rowling and Al Gore.

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Colbert had recently satirized the coyness of would-be presidential candidates by refusing to disclose whether he would seek the country's highest office - a refusal that often came without any prompting.

Shortly before making the announcement, Colbert appeared on "The Daily Show" (the show which spawned Colbert's spin-off) and played cagy, claiming he was only ready to consider a White House bid. He entered the studio set pulled by a bicycle pedaled by Uncle Sam and quickly pulled out a bale of hay and a bottle of beer to show that he was "an Average Joe."

Colbert said his final decision would be announced on a "more prestigeous show," which turned out to be his own.

"After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call," said Colbert.

His recent best-seller, "I Am American (And So Can You!)" afforded him the opportunity to mock the now-standard approach to a White House run, complete with a high-profile book tour.

Colbert said he planned to run in South Carolina, "and South Carolina alone." The state, one of the key early primaries, is also Colbert's native state. Late last week, South Carolina public television station ETV invited Colbert to announce his candidacy on its air.

Exactly how far the mock conservative pundit planned to stretch his impression of a presidential candidate wasn't clear. Colbert rarely breaks character on camera, including at his memorable speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner last year.

The Comedy Central host has often mobilized his fans ("Colbert Nation"), encouraging them to vote to have a Hungarian bridge named after him, for example, or to vandalize Wikipedia.com with his version of "truthiness" and "wikiality."

The comedian said he would run as both a Democrat and Republican. He earlier explained the strategy: "I can lose twice." He claimed three running mate possibilities: Colbert-Huckabee, Colbert-Putin or Colbert-Colbert.

Minutes after announcing his presidential pursuit, Colbert welcomed CBS political analyst Jeff Greenfield to ask how he had changed the race.

"This is going to be one for the books," said Greenfield.

A spokesman for Colbert said he would be unavailable for further comment Tuesday evening.

In a guest column for Maureen Dowd in Sunday's New York Times, Colbert wrote: "I am not ready to announce yet - even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2007-10-17 06:52:24

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848 comments

reverendvancourt 11:28:07 AM Oct 20 2007

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PATIENCE AND PRUDENCE
Where are you?
Please e-mail me directly if you know.
TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME

carrieanncan318 06:31:26 PM Oct 19 2007

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AA924, check your information, he isn't Jewish.

AA924 03:10:00 PM Oct 19 2007

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YEAH THATS JUST WHAT WE NEED A MEMBER OF THE JEWISH AS PRESIDENT.
THE JEWISH MEDIA IS ALREADY IN CO HOOTS W THE "JEWISH" NSA SPY RING.

THIS GUY IS A SOULESS WEASEL

jduckman3 12:14:32 PM Oct 19 2007

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He's just doing it to make fun of the people already running and to get publicity. He's, at best, a mediocre stand-up political comedian.

saminhim 10:42:38 AM Oct 19 2007

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MAYBE IT IS TIME TO DISOLVE THE GOVERNMENT AND HAVE REDO THE WHOLE GOVERNMENT.

kellytang00 08:59:24 AM Oct 19 2007

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do not like him. never vote him. Comparing with that boring matter, I perfer to date some celebrity or millionaire on wealthymen.zu5.net. It's said Charlie Sheen found her new girls/toys there. WOW. But don't know if it is him

SubversiveSkank2 07:51:00 AM Oct 19 2007

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Sorry folks-- not the average American. The average American really just wants to live in the same country we did 10 years ago. I apologize for generalizing.

I meant just these wingnuts who obviously believe everything they see on TV and can't differentiate between fantasy and reality. That sums up the Retardicans pretty nicely, don't you think?

Oh, that reminds me...whatever happened to that new American threat Bush discussed a couple years ago, about how stem cell reserach will lead to human-animal hybrids? Yeah, I remember seeing that episode of "Batman Beyond" to...

SubversiveSkank2 07:46:00 AM Oct 19 2007

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**Taylorndncar 10:59:41 PM Oct 18 2007

like all actors and comedians, this idiot hasn't an original thought in his life. i've watched him. at best, he's a democrat poking fun of republicans...!
he's bullshitting his own fans and his own fans are stupid enough to believe the gag...! comedy is the best way for democrats to get their sorry points across...!!!**

OMG...just as I thought the average American couldn't get anymore retarded...I am sadly proven wrong.

ARe you (f)ucking kidding me? HE'S A COMEDIAN, YOU JACKASS, not a real candidate. His fans KNOW it's bullshit. Of course, I couldn't expect anyone of your Retardinican IQ level to remotely understand anything this amazingly brilliant comic says. It's really no wonder why 70% of Americans laugh at Republicans now. You are all so ridiculous.

johnd70978 05:48:00 AM Oct 19 2007

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I remember voting for Howdy Doody in 1948 after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to me in a vision and commanded me to support the most viable Republican candidate.

richardbaas 12:51:11 AM Oct 19 2007

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Why not? At least people would watch his state of the union addresses

richardbaas 12:51:10 AM Oct 19 2007

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Why not? At least people would watch his state of the union addresses

thaicoffey2 11:16:00 PM Oct 18 2007

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Well he would be a vast improvement over the sorry joker we have in the White House now.

Taylorndncar 10:59:00 PM Oct 18 2007

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like all actors and comedians, this idiot hasn't an original thought in his life. i've watched him. at best, he's a democrat poking fun of republicans...!

he's bullshitting his own fans and his own fans are stupid enough to believe the gag...! comedy is the best way for democrats to get their sorry points across...!!!

arvig 10:50:00 PM Oct 18 2007

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cantchang...stop spamming. :P A double post is quite often due to AOL, some sort of lag on their server perhaps. But 8 or more posts AT LEAST of the exact same thing is obvious spamming. And does nothing to validate your post. Just waste server space, and make you look like an idiot, REGARDLESS of what you say. Then again you used this board to post mindless political bashing, so I guess that's proof you're an idiot anyway.