STEPHEN Colbert, well-known comedian and host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, recently declared his candidacy for, as he called it, "President of the United States of South Carolina." Colbert, a Charleston native, even formed a Super PAC that has successfully raised money that will be put toward whatever future undertakings the comedian might have in store. The only logistical problem was that Colbert's name did not appear on the Republican Party's ballot for the South Carolina primary. Colbert, however, solved this problem in a surprising way.
Colbert's name might have been absent from the ballot, but Herman Cain's was not. Though Cain dropped out of the GOP race in December, he was still a possible choice for South Carolina voters. Colbert subsequently attempted to win votes for himself by passing himself off as Cain and encouraging voters to vote Herman Cain in the primary. Colbert even held a rally at the College of Charleston to promote this tactic.
Colbert's faux campaign and rally have been criticized by some for making a mockery of our political system. Nevertheless, at least half the content of Colbert's rally is to be appreciated. Beyond the rally, Colbert's entire "campaign" has been a large-scale attempt to satirize the nature of Super PACs and also the controversial - and misguided - decision of the Supreme Court in Citizen's United v. Federal Election Commission, which changed the way political campaigns can be funded. The disappointing part of the rally, however, was that Cain decided to appear alongside Colbert in the first place.
When he was in the race, Cain was not merely seeking publicity. If he was, he did a very good job of hiding his true intentions from the American people. It is curious, then, why he attended Colbert's rally.
Cain refused to endorse any of the remaining GOP candidates after he ended his campaign, choosing instead to endorse "the people." This was an unorthodox move, as the other major candidates who have dropped out of the GOP primary race have all endorsed other Republicans. Though he is not explicitly endorsing Colbert's "Herman Cain" alter-ego, appearing at the rally makes it seem that Cain is alright with Colbert's using his name to extend a joke. Moreover, Cain's participation in the rally came at his own risk. There is no way, given Colbert's current level of stardom, that Cain was walking into an ambush. He certainly knew that he would be the object of some satire and mockery. The very fact that Colbert was trying to steal his name further embedded into people's minds that Cain was no longer a serious candidate.
Cain freely participated in Colbert's rally, even at times cracking jokes as if he were a stand-up comedian himself. This came after Cain inexplicably ended his final speech in December with a quote from a Pok
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