Apparently there is room for only one native son on South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary ballot. On Thursday, the state party’s executive council voted 14 to 3 to deny comedian Stephen Colbert a spot, ruling that the host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” failed to meet the requirement that candidates actively campaign in the state. And the Charleston native decided against paying the Republican Party’s hefty $35,000 filing fee to get on the GOP ballot (Democrats only charge $2,500).
While it has been fun to consider the prospect of Colbert’s entry, this is on a serious note probably good news for the South Carolina-born candidate who is actively campaigning: John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee. Indeed, as the only Southerner in the Democratic race, the former North Carolina senator is counting on a bit of homegrown sentiment to enable him to edge out the pack in his birth state.
Despite the mockery that Colbert would have made of the process, there was a chance that he would have attracted enough votes to siphon a chunk from somebody.
But wait, there’s still hope for Colbert’s faux White House dreams. He could always collect the 10,000 signatures that South Carolina requires to run as an independent on the general election ballot.
Colbert Ballot Denial Gives Edwards a Breather
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Stephen Colbert is single handedly exposing the primary electoral process as being the sham and deceit that it is. Voters should be outraged that the Republicans "charge" $35 000 to be a candidate while the Democrats only "charge" $2500. It should be a Federal law that no filing fee for any Federal office in any state exceed some nominal amount, say $125; otherswise, the opportunity to run becomes restriced, in the case of Republicans, to only the rich and wealthy. Before this election is over, chaos will reign in the primary process, and Stephen Colbert will have helped to open the whole process to ridicule.
Bring it on!
Posted by: GenotheGreat | November 2, 2007 8:57 AM
He's right. Elections are for sale in so many open and hidden ways, that the whole system is
suspect.
But the voting public seems to come out on top.In the last analysis, it is the final vote which decides the outcome.
Unless of course Scalia gets into the act. Even tjhough he was the core reason for our seven years of wrongheaded disaster, it was finally published that Gore got the votes.
Ironically, the future revealed how damned lucky we were not to be landed with that turncoat warmongering renegade Lieberman as VP. Is Scalia also relieved he is responsible for this escape from the tyranny of a neocon vote?
Posted by: joan pike | November 2, 2007 9:10 AM
Agree that there should be some set qualification. It would make sense for the money to be low, but the signature requirement high. Less than a $500 registration fee that benefits the party's activities, but 10,000 signatures as well. That way someone with a lot of support but not wealthy stands a chance of being elected.
Posted by: Jamie | November 2, 2007 11:10 AM
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