(Image Source: Post and Courier)

BY BLAKE HANSON

He isn’t on the ballot -- and there aren’t any write-ins, but that won’t stop satirist and now GOP presidential candidate Stephen Colbert from playing a role in the race for the party’s nomination. On Friday, the comedian drew droves of people to a campaign event featuring former candidate Herman Cain. CNN has more...

“A very unusual campaign rally in South Carolina.”
“Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert who’s supposedly exploring a possible White House run and former presidential candidate Herman Cain who dropped out of the race.”

Colbert tossed his name into the hat too late for qualification to get his name on the South Carolina ballot. But, he’s not letting that stop him -- instead he’s asking people to vote for Cain to show their support for him. A writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer says the recent rally tells us a lot about current U.S. politics.

“The biggest political rally of the primary season was hosted Friday by a fake Republican who is running for president even though he's not on the ballot and a real Republican who is not running for president even though he is on the ballot. And that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about how the masses … view the American political system in the winter of 2012.”

Hundreds attended the rally at the College of Charleston campus, and a writer for Salon tells MSNBC’s Chris Matthews his take...

“I think the prevailing interpretation of it will probably end up being, if he does well, this is how bad and unimpressive this field was to the voters of South Carolina.”

A writer for the Globe and Mail says jokes aside -- Colbert’s actions raise some tough questions.

“... Mr. Colbert has sparked a serious debate about whether his use of comedy to draw attention to money in U.S. politics – he has formed a so-called super political action committee named Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow – is turning young people into cynics before they cast their first ballot.”

And some commentators, including the Washington Post’s Colbert King -- say it’s not even a question that Colbert should stop...

“...disgust with the corrosive effects of super PAC money and coolness toward the likes of Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are no excuse for trying to disrupt the presidential election system, as it appears Colbert has tried to do.”

But the LA Times’ David Horsey points to a different question, asking why so many more people are attending the fake candidate’s event, than the real ones’.

“ … the four remaining Republican candidates are not drawing crowds as big and adoring as Colbert’s … four years ago at this point in the campaign, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were pulling in crowds as big or bigger … This year’s candidates are avoiding big events because they do not want to be photographed in half-empty halls.”


So what’s the word on how he’s polling? A new Public Policy Poll found Stephen Colbert has a higher favorability rating than any other candidate.