Will Stephen Colbert be a determining factor in today's South Carolina primary?
Front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are busy making a last-minute push to get S.C. voters to the polls, but the biggest rally of the primary season was hosted Friday by Colbert, a fake Republican who is running for president even though he's not on the ballot, and Hermain Cain, who is no longer running for president, even though he's on the ballot.
If the turnout at Friday's Colbert-Cain rally is any indication of young people's enthusiasm for the GOP candidate, then it is no looking good for Romney or Gingrich. That a Comedy Central satirist was able to draw thousands of young people to a 45-minute performance on the College of Charleston's campus at an event dubbed, "Rock Me Like a Herman Cain South Cain-Olina Primary Rally," is a poor reflection on the state of the GOP field and an indication that millennials may not be a major factor in today's primary results.
S.C. ballots were finalized before Cain dropped out of the race, and there is no write-in option on the ballot in S.C. Thus, Colbert asked his supporters to vote for Cain at Saturday's primary. "I want you to vote for Herman Cain, because Herman Cain is me!" he said to thousands of college students.
Today marks the second anniversary of Citizens United, the controversial Supreme Court decision allowing corporations and unions to donate freely to political campaigns. To commemorate, Colbert, a native of South Carolina, told his supporters, "You can thank the Supreme Court by going into that voting booth and voting for Hermain Cain! Because sadly, it is still illegal to vote with just pure cash."
Does the Colbert/Cain ticket have a chance to be a wild card in today's primary? Perhaps, because non-Republicans are allowed to vote in S.C. The media is treating Colbert's stunt as a pure joke, to which Colbert replied, "If this is a joke, then they are saying our whole campaign-finance system is a joke."
But, thousands of South Carolina college students do not feel that Colbert's campaign is a joke. Let's see how many votes Cain receives in today's primary.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Discussion
How did Colbert and Cain were to ever have an impact on any of these primaries? Cain: I'm endorsing 'We The People.'
What the ?!?! is that?!?!
Here: final results by county from this morning's MSNBC website
http://elections.msnbc.msn.com/ns/politics/2012/south-carolina/republican/primary/
NOT nothin' nohow for Colbert/Cain. Folks: you just have to accept that humor isn't a part of the arsenal of a South Carolina conservative Republican. They are overwhelmingly (that should be in all caps, too) white, poorer than you can imagine, and have never quite recovered from the Great Depression of the 1930's - let alone anything that came after.
My analysis of this election is different from the bloviations going on right now on television by the pundits of both right and left. I believe Newt's win yesterday is good for Romney in the weirdly twisted way that it will scare most of the undecided GOPers and conservative leaning Indies into Romney's arms going forward.
Newt won't win in FL. The electorate is much different than SC's - more diverse and more educated. He may, however win in other Southern state primaries, simply because his white trash meanness appeals to the GOP/Tea base.
So far, Cassandra is batting 1000.
Stephen Colbert...
That F'er makes me sick. It's a testament to how much people need to know about how IMPORTANT voting and being involved actually is...The fact that people would show up just to party for a comedic dickhead...
Knowing that this dude is just doing it to make fun of, distract from and ultimately bury Republicans...Oh god..
((Blood pressure..Remember to breathe..))
Ugh..
Looks like he got around 1%, which is many times more than the other defunct candidates. The Colbert bump was enough to make a difference in raw numbers, but it looks like South Carolinians take their democratic duties seriously enough to actually vote for a nominee rather than play along with Colbert's publicity stunt.
"satirist was able to draw thousands of young people....is a poor reflection on the state of the GOP field"
I must dissent. The more probable reason that most of those people (and I would like to have been one) is to hear political satire. Not for voting purposes or even gaining information to become more educated. It would be strictly entertainment - and probably very funny casting stones at hypocrisy on both sides of the isle. Depending upon the joke, it could actually cause reflection on the basis of truth behind the joke or it could just be "whatever" and it would fall flat.
Any person who takes Colbert's campaign seriously is a joke.
While I love every silly, wonderful, whimsical and UNcoordinated-with-his-SuperPac thing that Stephen Colbert does, I am not sure he's going to be a factor in the actual election returns. With the exception of the college students he attracted to his rally last night, South Carolina Republicans probably don't find him as compelling as - say - all y'all up there in New York-land do.
Remember, he's a comedian and his schtick is spoofing conservatives. Most conservatives don't think he's funny.
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