Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist: Welcome, Candidate Stephen Tiberius Colbert Edition

Thanks, truthiness89, for your concern. It’s been a long morning! And an even longer post. Here’s a very specialized Zeitgeist for Thursday, October 18th.

The Big Guns
We’ve mentioned WaPo and NY Times earlier, but here’s what some of the others in the Main Stream Media had to say.

• Colbert announces presidential pursuit – Associated Press (via Yahoo.com): “Colbert, 43, 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.”
• Satirist Colbert a presidential hopeful – United Press International: “Four decades after U.S. comedian Pat Paulson ran for president, Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert is launching his own bid for the White House.”
• Can Colbert actually get on the ballot? – CNN.com: “But it remains to be seen if the State Democratic Party’s Executive Committee, whose approval Colbert needs to get on their ballot, will vote to certify a candidate who is also running in the GOP race. The rules state the candidate must be “actively campaigning” for the Democratic primary.”
• Colbert says he’s running for president: Can he take the heat? – The USA Today: “We’ll say it before you do: Is there room for another comedian in the presidential race? Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert says yes there is!”
• Colbert Seeking Votes, Laughs – ABC News: “We know you were wondering: What could this presidential race need that Mike Gravel isn’t already giving it? What about the steely-eyed glare of Stephen Colbert? Sure, his name may sound a little French for the GOP, and he may channel Bill O’Reilly a bit too convincingly for Democrats’ taste. “
• Fox and Friends – video – Fox News: “Dark haired guy who isn’t Steve Doocey and his pals talk about Stephen running for President and think he should be on the show!”

The Home State
South Carolina talks up their favorite son. And who knew that University of South Carolina had a Gamecock for a mascot?

• Republicrat courts Palmetto State – Charleston Post & Courier: “Step aside wannabe conservatives, the “white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative” is in the race, and he’s coming home to bring it on.”
• Colbert’s candidacy cracks up S.C. voters – The Herald Online:
  

  In Beaufort County, voters doubted Colbert would make a dent in January’s poll results.

  “The whole thing is farcical. He’s just creating attention for himself,” said Sun City resident Maureen Hermiston, who plans to vote in the Republican primary and is a member of the Sun City Republican Club. “All I know is he’s a comedian, and he mostly pokes fun at Republicans.”

  Pat Goodman, a Sun City Democrat, said, “My husband watches him and he’s always laughing.

In UnAmerican News
From a dot-ca sites

• Stephen Colbert announces mock bid for presidency – CTV.ca: “As for what a Colbert presidency would mean for Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper may want to ready himself for a lengthy battle over his claims on the Arctic.”

In a class of its own
Where to file this one…?

• ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION – New York Post: “STEPHEN Colbert, the late-night comedian, says he’s running for president – and he’s serious.”

More from the blogosphere
DB posted the initial reactions – here are some more reports. Note that I’ve included only those with a unique comment or insight – a very small fraction of the number of blog posts talking about His candidacy.

• Colbert am presidential candidate – Far and Wide (AP News blog): “We shouldn’t be surprised that Stephen Colbert threw his wristband into the presidential ring Tuesday. The man has a book out, after all.
• Colbert Brings Truthiness to ’08 Campaign – E! Online: “President Bush is ineligible to run for another term in office, so Stephen Colbert is throwing his support behind the next best candidate: Himself.”
• A Colbert Candidacy … and Another Bush Term? – Chronicle of Higher Education: “No word yet on his positions on student loans and the like.”
• Yikes! Colbert for President? – Austin 360 Blog: “What if we elected a real jokester, as opposed to several wannabe jokesters of the past and present? We’ve already had an actor in the Oval Office, and another one is currently seeking the job. It always makes me nervous, given the whimsical nature of the American voting public, when fake candidates go after real votes.”
• Stephen Colbert Launches Presidential Bid – The Left Coaster: “After last night’s stunning news, questions immediately arose as to how damaging the right-wing pundit’s run would be to Republican hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and John McCain. Some media pundits predicted he would top the nationwide polls right away, while others placed him a strong 2nd or 3rd.”
• One Nation Under Colbert – New America Media: “Would it be so bad if America elected a President who didn’t necessarily make his or her citizens feel like they took their ballot, rolled it around in some mud right before their threw it down the toilet. I still stand by my earlier post that America needs a comedian for President. Because after a really bad day of getting stuck in traffic, and getting all the grief in the world from your boss/teacher/parent, most people just really need to come home, pop open their instant microwavable dinner and instead of laughing at their President, laughing with them. Idealistic maybe, but hey – weirder things have happened. “
• Heh: Stephen Colbert Runs for Prez – SFist: “We love Stephen Colbert (well, we love him insofar as we can stomach political satire), but we were shocked to hear that he’s (maybe or maybe not) throwing his hat into the Presidential-race ring. Which? Cool. Or whatever. We find him sexually attractive, thus we’ll probably vote for him if he does in fact run.”
• http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5170 – Brad Blog: “Will he have more of an actual affect on the race than, say, Pat Paulsen, the inveterate comedian-candidate of many a prior Presidential contest? We wager Colbert just might, actually.”
• Does Stephen Colbert have Reaganiness? – Indecision 2008: “In response to Stephen Colbert’s announcement that he’s running for President, a spokesman from Barack Obama’s campaign said, “…he’s no Ronald Reagan.” Who would beg to differ? None other than the Gipper’s son, Ron Reagan, Jr.:”
  
• Sideshow | President Stephen Colbert? – Philly.com : “Mr. Colbert, who is known as a prankster and a professional funnyman (though this hasn’t been confirmed), on Tuesday used his Comedy Central show The Colbert Report to announce his intentions: “I shall seek the office of the president of the United States.”"
• Stephen Colbert is My God, Why Not My President? – Abstract Concept: “Brilliant television satirist Stephen Colbert threw his hat in the ring, his junk in the trunk, and his balls in the fire, joining the ranks of mock Presidential candidates.”

Let the Polling Begin
The on-line polls have started…

• Colbert in ’08? What do you think? – Gay.com: Steve Carell us polling at 16% as a running mate => “Ambiguously Gay in ’08!”
• It’s Official: Colbert To Enter 2008 Presidential Race! Take the Poll – Crooks and Liars: “President Colbert sure does have a nice ring to it, no? We’re trying a new feature out on C&L. I know all the candidates aren’t listed, but I’m just testing the software to make sure it works this time—so take the Poll! “

Campaign Related News

• ETV Reaches Out To Colbert – SC Pols.com: “On the heels of Stephen Colbert’s official pronouncement that he plans to run for the presidency in South Carolina-and South Carolina alone-the state’s public television and radio network, ETV, is formally inviting Colbert to pick up his cellphone and dial (803) 737-3259 to book an appearance.”
• An Analysis of Stephen Colbert’s Potential Presidential Bid – LiveJournal – by NFZ reader Shruti: “For those of you wondering how this entire thing is going to pan out, I’ve compiled a sort of summary. Credit goes to www.thegreenpapers.com and Wikipedia for information, and to nofactzone.net for the link to the New York Times article I reference near the bottom. If you’d like any more information of if a correction is in order (I’m not from South Carolina), please tell me.”
• Pat Paulsen – Video Clips – Paulsen.com – video clips: Worth a watch because you will keep hearing his name mentioned with Stephen’s during this candidacy.
• How to Dramatically Increase Your Page Views – Freaking Marketing: “Run for president of the United States. And here’s another non-trivial benefit: It could land you on the home page of top-tier sites like CNN. No wonder Viacom bought out Time Warner’s half of Comedy Central for $1.23 billion. These people aren’t just funny — they’re smarter than just about anyone in the television business.”
• Campaign contributions for Colbert candidacy – CNewmak.com: “Hey, I’m very excited about the presidential run of Stephen Colbert, and I’ve already contributed to the campaign via Donorschoose.org”
• UPDATE: News Outlets Take Serious Look at Witty Colbert-for-President Campaign – Editor & Publisher: “At least a couple of major news outlet is taking the alleged presidential bid by Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert semi-seriously.”
• Funny Colbert alternatives – ASAP.og: “So Stephen Colbert says he’s running for president. If politics is going to the comics, the ASAP STAFF has its own candidates to recommend.”
• In your heart, you know he’s right (or left) – HeraldNet: “A chicken in every pot, a tongue in every cheek: It’s been more than 10 years since Pat Paulsen, Washington state native son and comedian, ran for the White House, mostly because he died in 1997. Now the mantle has been passed to Stephen Colbert, Clown Prince of the Punditocracy and host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”"

Featured Editorial Endorsement
Every candidate needs one. This, from Firefox News.

• Editorial: Endorsement of Stephen Colbert for President
  And You Can Too

  We at Firefox News would like to announce our official endorsement of Stephen Colbert for the office of President of the United States. Mr. Colbert is committed to role-playing, fanfiction, Star Trek, geek life, and satire, all things near and dear to the hearts of our staff. We are tired of phonies and want a true fake candidate to support in our country’s time of need.
  We wish him the best of luck in his run and will do our part to spread the good word.

  Mr. Colbert is currently only running in his native state of South Carolina. We think this is a tragic waste of potential, and that Mr. Colbert should put himself on primary ballots across the nation. If that cannot be the case, then we will limit our endorsement for his run for President in South Carolina and we encourage you to do the same.

  Vote Colbert. Seize the eagle.