Stephen Colbert to Explore Run for President in South Carolina.
NEW YORK — Stephen Colbert announced on “The Colbert Report” that he is exploring a presidential run in South Carolina, and made it legal by handing control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart in the opening segment of Thursday night’s show.
“I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for president of the United States of America of South Carolina,” Colbert said during the Thursday evening show, several hours before airtime on Comedy Central.
“This is a difficult decision. I’ve talked it over with my money. I’ve talked it over with my spiritual adviser.”
Trevor Potter, the former Federal Election Commission chairman, acts as Colbert’s lawyer and was a guest on the show. “You cannot be a candidate and run a super PAC,” Potter said. “That would be coordinating with yourself.”
Source: Politico.
Colbert For President (Again).
Colbert said voters in South Carolina saw him as an alternative to current GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney.
“Clearly my fellow South Caroliniacs see me as the only Mitternative,” Colbert said.
However, according to South Carolina election law, Colbert may not get his way. The state’s website said write-in votes are prohibited in political party primaries or for president and vice president.
South Carolina Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire told CNN with the Republican presidential primary just nine days away, there “won’t even be a way for someone to do that because it’s not allowed under the law.”
The comedian missed the November 1 filing deadline to get his name on the GOP primary ballot. Whitmire added that, in accordance with the law, there’s no write-in space on the electronic and paper primary ballots.
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In the taping of his show Thursday, Colbert confronted that hurdle, officially signing over the super PAC to fellow Comedy Central host Jon Stewart.
Full Artice: CNN – Political Ticker.
Stephen Colbert for President, Jon Stewart Gets Colbert Super PAC.