Props to Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton for noticing the reference to The Colbert Report in John Edwards’ endorsement of Barack Obama earlier this evening.
From Broadcasting & Cable:
Edwards Endorses Obama, Even Without Jet Ski
May 14, 2008
The power of the Colbert Nation was on display at the Michigan announcement by John Edwards that he was endorsing Barack Obama.
Last week it was an astronaut sporting a Colbert Nation wrist bracelet, today it was center stage at one of the most important endorsements for either presidential candidate.
Almost the first words out of the former presidential candidate’s mouth were a reference to Edwards’ appearance on The Colbert Report last month, Comedy Central’s Peabody-winning send-up of cable news punditry.
“You know, I was promised a jet ski,” he told a cheering throng of thousands in Michigan, Barack Obama at his side, “and I haven’t gotten it yet.”
. . .
Read the full article here
Nicely done, Sen. Edwards!
If you’d like to refresh your memory of the hilarious EdWØRDS in question, do enjoy the following, courtesy of Comedy Central: The EdWØRDS — Valued Voter:
UPDATED TO ADD: You can watch footage of the endorsement speech here. (Thanks, WordsWithGrace and dustdevil!)
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First Segment: 
- Senator Hillary Clinton saves the day and fixes Stephen’s giant projector screen.
Second Segment:
Third Segment:
- John Edwards delivers the EdWØRD: Valued Voters
In closing: Senator Barack Obama chats with Stephen via satellite (see the Notable Moments below the cut)
- I wanna thank Ben Franklin! Barack Obama! Hilary Clinton! I want to thank the good people at Doritos! I want to thank you, Pennsylvania! We’ve told you how to think, now go vote! Good night everybody!
NOTABLE MOMENTS, Video links, and more after the fold!
Read More→
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Sometimes, size matters. So who do you think got the biggest bump last night? Indecision 2008 has a poll set up here. Unfortunately, there’s no option for “Edwards if you judge by their individual segments, Obama if you’re asking about the evening, overall.” Still, it’s an interesting little poll. I wonder if Indecision can manage more respectable voter participation numbers than we see in the general election …
And thank goodness McCain wasn’t on last night, too, or we might have seen a “self-canceling vortex of Colbert Bumps“!
(Okay, I’ll admit it. I *am* interested in finding out who got the biggest bump, but I really just wanted an excuse to use that cool composite that I totally pulled from the Comedy Central Insider. It reminds me of a nutty Mt. Rushmore, and that reminds me of an old Second City sketch about “Four Stone Guys,” and that reminds me that … I live in a weird, weird little world all of my own.)
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I know we’re all eagerly awaiting the full Episode Guide from this exceptional show, but I just *had* to get this segment posted before much more time had passed. John Edwards hit his segment out of the park last night, and I’ve got nothing but love for it. So without further ado, The EdWØRDs:
The Ed Words – Valued Voter: In considering who gets his vote, John Edwards is concerned about more than receiving several jet skis for his family — he’d also like to be a spy.
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I don’t know about you guys, but I woke up in the morning and was still on a high. What a show!
The episode is (obviously) all over the news today, and I’m sure we’ll be posting stories and reactions continuously as we see things that particularly strike us. Here are just a couple that I thought were worth pointing out.
The New Republic had a pretty thorough analysis of each guest’s appearance and concluded that the night belonged to Obama:
The Colbert Wars
Sacha Zimmerman
17.04.2008
Just when I thought I was about to settle in for a Colbert Report with Hillary Clinton as the guest, Stephen Colbert hits me with an additional trifecta of political force: Representative Patrick Murphy, Senator John Edwards, and Barack Obama himself. If it was supposed to be Clinton’s night, it sure didn’t end up that way.
. . .
So over all, Clinton’s appearance is upstaged by the golden-boys twin set: one of whom has explicitly endorsed her opponent, and the other of whom has managed to say something earnest about real issues and be funny at the same time. Suddenly, Clinton’s “Call me!” walk-on is looking a touch, um, weak. Which is why it’s almost too much when Barack Obama appears on screen to chat with Colbert. And what does Obama do? He puts manufactured issues and political distractions “on notice.” With a little help from Colbert, “distractions” are now lower than dirt–you know, distractions like the Clinton camp accusing Obama of plagerizing and talking to hippies.
When it comes to the Clinton cameo versus the Obama cameo, I think that Clinton’s bit was actually funnier; but that’s the battle not the war. As we used to say in law school (cough, cough, dropped out), it’s the totality of circumstances that make the case. And, last night, in the court of Colbert, Obama was the victor.
I agree that, between the two remaining candidates for the Democtatic nomination, the show skewed pretty clearly toward Obama, but I truly felt that the night belonged to John Edwards. At least one blogger for The Los Angeles Times appears to concur:
John Edwards (finally) gets a star turn, courtesy of Stephen Colbert
Hillary Clinton (to start the show) and Barack Obama (to end it) made brief (very brief) appearances on “The Colbert Report” tonight. But it was the Democratic rival they left in the dust almost three months ago — John Edwards — who stole the show.
Edwards strolled onto Stephen Colbert’s set to punctuate the point the comic was making that in a race between a woman and a black, the key to success in their battles has hinged — and presumably will continue to depend — on which one white men support.
It’s about time this demographic ruled, Colbert smirked. And Edwards quipped that no white male voter is being “more vigorously courted than this one.”
He began his shtick by reiterating that he remains undecided — and provided some elaboration as to why. On the one hand, he said, he doesn’t want to be seen as “anti-hope.” With fine timing, he added: “On the other hand, I don’t want James Carville to bite me.”
He then detailed some expected — and unexpected — ways that Clinton or Obama might win him over.
. . .
Read the full text of the post here
As someone who felt that John Edwards was always given the short shrift in media coverage during the early days of the campaign and who was disappointed when he ended his candidacy, it was slightly bittersweet to see him back on the (sort of) political stage last night. But man, he nailed it, and I give him all kinds of credit for that.
I repeat: what a show!
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