As of tonight, the Democratic council members are On Notice!
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(photo - fake board created by me on the On Notice Generator Board.)
Stephen Colbert’s request to be included on the Democratic ballot in the South Carolina presidential primary has been rejected by the party’s executive council.
Colbert filed earlier today but hours after he paid his $2500 fee the Democratic executive council tossed his application.
"Money well wasted," quipped Colbert on his show last night.
Colbert also failed to qualify for the Republican ballot which required a much heftier $35,000 fee. Republican party officials said that Colbert missed the filing deadline, according to Reuters.
But Colbert said the day before he decided not to enter the Republican primary because the price was too steep. "$35,000!? I understand you have to keep a club exclusive but I paid less for my blackmarket liver!" exclaimed the mock pundit.
Democratic party director, Joe Werner, is quoted on Politico.com as saying that Colbert “wasn’t a serious candidate” and that there is no appeal process. The site also says that Colbert’s only hope now is to collect 10,000 signatures and run as an independent.
According to Politico.com
Members of the executive council expressed a range of similar sentiments before the vote, according to a CNN story.
It quoted council member Waring Howe Jr. saying Colbert would appear on the party’s ballot “over my dead body.”
Many members of the executive council likely voted against giving Colbert a spot on the ballot because they have allegiances to specific candidates, said former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat who knows many council members.
“There are various candidates who don’t get the joke in the Democratic Party and who, for whatever reasons, want to keep him off the ballot,” said Hodges, who signed a petition supporting Colbert’s candidacy. “I personally think he doesn’t hurt any of them. He brings a sense of levity to politics that’s needed, and the people in South Carolina would enjoy it. We probably would have some people participate who otherwise would not do so.”
It begs the question: what are Democrats afraid of exactly?
Colbert’s antics ignited the electorate and injected energy into hyper-managed, over-coiffed, stultifying campaigns.
Colbert’s “One Million Strong for Stephen Colbert” Facebook group skyrocketed to over a million members within days of his on-air announcement that he was running for the Oval Office - perhaps embarrassing Democratic candidates who were only able to top a few hundred-thousand Facebook members after months of campaigning.
Maybe the Dems were uneasy with Colbert’s exposure of the soft presidential campaign underbelly, namely that on some level the general public suspects it’s all fake anyway. They know the game is staged - the requisite talk show circuit often conveniently timed to a ghost-written book publication, and the personas predictably, artfully wrapped in the red, white and blue of the common man. Scenes are all rolled-up shirtsleeves and photo-oped nostalgic red barns in rural Iowa.
Like all good satirists, Colbert takes what we know to be true subliminally and thrusts it front and center into our awareness. He too hit the talk show circuit, sitting for interviews on Good Morning America, Meet The Press and Larry King Live. On The Daily Show he hauled out a hay bale prop to shore up his everyman cred.
(But kudos to the John Edwards campaign for having a little fun and letting it all hang out by playing along with Colbert campaign. UPDATE (Nov.2) from the fansite "No Fact Zone": John Edwards said the decision to deny Colbert’s application was unfortunate. “I don’t know, I kind of liked Colbert on the ballot, myself,” Mr. Edwards said. “I think it adds a little interest.”)
The press has lapped up Colbert’s candidacy and young voters stampeded into presidential politics. Talk about "not getting it" - by snubbing Colbert, the Dems just tossed away a golden opportunity to reach those young voters.
UPDATE: Nov. 2 - The One Million Strong for Stephen Colbert Facebook group reports that over 5,300 members have registered to vote through the group.
Just think how many people would tune into those tedious Democratic debates if Stephen Colbert leaped onto the stage with his bio-fueled leafblower – the one that runs on Al Gore’s tears.
But the Dems are increasingly out of touch, perhaps serving…well, who knows. Case in point: last August, a coalition of neighborhood groups representing thousands of residents here in Marin County sent an urgent fax to the offices of Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. The coaltion requested a meeting to discuss the need for federal funding for aging flood infrastructure.
The absolute we-couldn’t-care-less attitude conveyed by both Boxer’s and Feinstein’s senior staff was interesting to observe, if not eye-opening. Voice-mail systems were full or phones were busy. Staff declined to forward calls or sent callers on wild goose chases. Constituents followed-up the fax at least a dozen times by phone, imploring the offices of the Senators to respond, pointing to decaying levees and rusting pump stations.
After more than three months, not a single phone call has been returned.
So – Run! Stephen, Run! And hold their feet to the fire.
