Steven Colbert for President?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/arts/television/18colb.html?_r=1&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/C/Colbert,%20Stephen&oref=slogin

Stephen Colbert — who announced plans to run for the presidency, though only in South Carolina, on his Comedy Central show Tuesday night — is serious enough about the stunt that his staff reached out to the state’s Democratic and Republican committees in advance of his declaration.

Joe Werner, executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said that a representative for Mr. Colbert, who was raised in Charleston, called three weeks ago asking about filing dates and other requirements. Mr. Werner added, “From what I understand, he does have credible people down here, working to have him placed on the ballot.”

Katon Dawson, the chairman of the state Republican Party, said his office had also received a call from Mr. Colbert’s staff — on Tuesday. The call came just hours before Mr. Colbert taped his own show (in which he said he hoped to run as both a Democrat and a Republican) as well as a teaser to his announcement that appeared on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” which leads into “The Colbert Report.”

Mr. Dawson, though, was far more dismissive of Mr. Colbert’s apparent intentions than his Democratic counterparts. “My advice,” he said in an interview, “is that he could probably have more fun buying a sports car and getting a girlfriend.”

How far Mr. Colbert is willing to go — and why exactly he is doing this, beyond stoking interest in his show and his new book, “I Am America (and So Can You!)” — was not at all clear. He did not return messages left with various publicists yesterday. Mr. Stewart declined to be interviewed.

In a surprise appearance on Mr. Stewart’s show just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Mr. Colbert arrived on a bicycle piloted by someone in an Uncle Sam costume. Propping his feet on a hay bale and cracking open what appeared to be a beer bottle, Mr. Colbert, in character as a conservative blowhard, told Mr. Stewart that he had “decided to officially consider whether or not I will announce.”

But on his own show, which began at 11:30, he touched off a cascade of red, white and blue balloons by declaring, “After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call.”

He noted that he was running as a “favorite son” candidate — “though not my mother’s favorite son,” he said. “She’s too fair-minded to ever show a preference between the eight of us.” (Mr. Colbert, 43, is the youngest of 11 children.)

In seeking to turn punch lines into sound bites, Mr. Colbert evoked memories of Pat Paulsen, the sad-eyed comedian who, in 1968, first announced on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” that he was running for president as the candidate of the Straight Talking American Government (STAG) Party. Last year, in “Man of the Year,” Robin Williams played a “Daily Show”-like host who seeks the presidency and wins.

So assuming Mr. Colbert keeps the gag going, what would he have to do to get on the Democratic ballot in the South Carolina primary, which is expected to be held on Jan. 26?

“Well, there’s two ways,” Mr. Werner said. “The first is, you pay a $2,500 filing fee. And if you can’t afford to do the $2,500, you can gather 3,000 signatures.”

Time, at least for now, is on his side. Those seeking a claim to the state’s 54 delegates to the Democratic National Convention can start to file their paperwork on Monday, and have until Nov. 1 to complete the process.

Mr. Colbert would also need the blessing of the executive council of the South Carolina Democratic Party. And that could pose a problem if he goes ahead with his apparent intention to seek a line on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. “I don’t believe you can do that,” Mr. Werner said.

But what if Mr. Colbert decided to throw in his lot solely with the Democrats? Provided he met all the other requirements, Mr. Werner said, “our executive council would have a hard time not putting him on the ballot.”

However leery Mr. Dawson may be about Mr. Colbert’s plans, he said that he did not believe the Republicans could stop him from seeking both Republican and Democratic delegates. “There is nothing in our filing that would prohibit him from running on both ballots, if he chose to pay the filing fees,” he said.

And what is that fee? It is $35,000, Mr. Dawson said.

“The great thing about America,” Mr. Dawson said, “is, if you can meet the constitutional requirements to run for president of the United States, you can do so. In Mr. Colbert’s case, we look forward to his paying the filing fee before Nov. 1.”