Stephen Colbert is running for president.
Satirically, of course. Colbert, who recently received 5 percent of the vote in a South Carolina primary, announced in January his plan to campaign for “President of the United States of South Carolina.”
Many consider the satirical news anchor’s campaign to be degrading in that it makes light of the American political process. Many of their laughs come at the expense of politicians and governing bodies.
Colbert, Jon Stewart and others like them have great importance in the political education of Americans.
Colbert and Stewart each host a 30 minute parody news show on Comedy Central. The comedian, news anchors keep their audience watching using humor, but they are actually responsible for delivering national and world news to the masses.
Stories such as campaign finance reform are transformed from stuffy news articles published by the mainstream media into a couple minutes of educational entertainment complete with fog machines.
Each show features respectable guests ranging from President Obama to Martha Stewart. Through their humorous coverage of major events, there is a basis of substance that helps enlighten the viewers to our current world news. Although not intended to be a holistic source, these shows provide daily news in a more palatable fashion.
Colbert and Stewart’s shows do not go unnoticed. Television ratings from the summer revealed that The Daily Show attracts about half a million more viewers than most Fox News prime time shows. The Daily Shows’ 2.3 million viewers are bested only by The O’Reilly Factor.
On the same day that Ron Paul struggled to draw 100 people to his rally in North Charleston, Colbert was speaking to a crowd of 3,000 less than 20 miles away.
Colbert’s most recent escapade is his ownership of a super political action committee. He explained the changes in federal campaign finance laws to many who probably wouldn’t have ever taken the time to educate themselves through other avenues.
He recently teamed up with Jon Stewart to show his audience how Super PACs are being used since the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC which allows corporations to raise unlimited amounts of money for specific candidates.
However, candidates are not allowed to be involved or coordinated with their respective Super PACs. So when Colbert announced his candidacy, he passed leadership of his super PAC to Jon Stewart.
Through this, Colbert has shed light on the fact that, just as Stewart and Colbert are no strangers, many super PACs also have strong connections to the candidates despite a legal requirement banning coordination.
Romney’s super PAC is run by his former lawyer and Rick Perry’s super PAC is run by his former chief of staff. Some candidates share a staff with the Super PAC that supports them.
While this may be considered a mockery because they poke fun at politics, Colbert and Stewart help inform and enlightened many Americans about today’s news.
