The more late-night television satirist Stephen Colbert jokes and romps his way through the early campaign season with his almost-real candidacy for president of the United States, the more some folks are intent on taking him seriously.
It was no surprise when fans of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" reacted giddily to news that their hero would try to get on the ballot for the South Carolina primary. But who knew that Internet pundits and nearly every major media outlet in the country would weigh in?
Some wanted to keep the discussion on the light and narrow. Which running mate should Colbert choose: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) or Russian President Vladimir V. Putin?
But others had sharp and much more sober questions. Would he draw votes from the "real" candidates? Should the mainstream media be wasting so much time on a phantom candidacy? Does schtick count as constitutionally protected, and therefore unregulated, speech?
Someone who went by the name Sil 369 on Digg.com, the news aggregation website, asked: "Who would become president? His character? Or his actual self? Really, I'm curious."
The 43-year-old late-night star is not the first comedian to run for president. But he may be the first to benefit from the wildly echoing discussion spawned by the Internet -- and the recent release of a book, Colbert's "I Am America (and So Can You!)"
If a campaign as fantastical as Colbert's can have a crossroads, it comes today, when the entertainer must register to be included on January primary ballots in South Carolina.
The near-candidate and Comedy Central executives aren't commenting on their next move.
But South Carolina officials said that as of Wednesday evening, they had not received the paperwork or filing fees -- $2,500 or 3,000 signatures for the Democrats, $35,000 for the Republicans -- to have Colbert join either of the parties' ballots.
It's been four decades since Pat Paulsen, then a regular on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," first ran for president. Paulsen, who died in 1997, liked to tag along with the legitimate candidates, never dropping his morose campaign persona.
Colbert launched his eponymous talk show character on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," before Comedy Central spun off the half-hour "Colbert Report," airing Monday through Thursday after "The Daily Show."
