Comedian Colbert joins race for White House
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post
Article Launched: 10/17/2007 01:33:10 AM PDT

WASHINGTON - It has become something of a cliche: politicians launching their electoral campaigns on late-night talk shows, in a calculated attempt at hipness.

But a late-night comic announcing his presidential candidacy on a late-night talk show - now that is a hall-of-mirrors maneuver worthy of Stephen Colbert. The man known to viewers for his portrayal of a fulminating right-wing blowhard said on Comedy Central on Tuesday night that he will be a candidate in his native South Carolina.

Asked if he plans to give up his show, Colbert said: "Do you think I'm a fool? Now that I'm a candidate, you people are going to be gunning for me, like you do for everybody." Not only will the program enable him to bite back at the press, he pointed out, but "you know what it pays to be a presidential candidate? Not well."

As for the inconvenient truth that he hasn't lived in the Palmetto State for years, the host of "The Colbert Report" went negative, daring the other candidates to match his appeal back home: "John Edwards left South Carolina when he was 1 year old. He had his chance. Saying his parents moved him - that's the easy answer."

Colbert told Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" that he planned to announce soon on a more prestigious program - and minutes later, on his own show, said he was taking the plunge, triggering a big balloon drop.

Colbert, who in real life is a Democrat, said he would file papers to run in both parties' primaries.

He seems to have an unorthodox fundraising strategy: "I'd really like to get some corporate sponsorship. Some sort of salty snack."