Democratic Process Crushed by ... Democrats.

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A sad day in politics...

Stephen Colbert Drops Presidential Bid

... and he was number three ... or four ... or so.

I was really looking forward to seeing if he could spice up the race. It would have been great if he could have run in both parties as originally planned.

Of course, this may actually belong in Whatnots (or AoLS, I actually thought I was in AoLS when I made this)....

 

I think you put it in the right place. Guys like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, whether they like it or not, have been political animals for quite some time.

 

Indeed. It's a pity Colbert didn't run. Just to shake things up a bit... But it was evident right from the start everybody among Rs & Ds was afraid of having him run on either ticket. They made sure his plan led nowhere.

 

I did join Colbert's group on Facecrack--er--Facebook. I would have loved to see him run.

I hope this bites the Democrats in the backside...

 

Does anyone know where this council had given the reasons for denying Mr. Colbert?

Edit: $35,000 for filing a presidential bid? Shouldn't it be the case that any US citizen past some age can apply for a president of the United States?

 

Not a chance. First of all, everyone knew that Colbert was running as a joke, unless you think he seriously intended to "crush Georgia" if elected president. Let's also not forget the main reason he wasn't added to the ballot--he wasn't actively campaigning in North Carolina--which is one of their main requirements for being added to the ballot.

 

While I agree that there's nothing wrong with the Democrats not allowing him to run on their ballot because he doesn't tow the party line, I do think it's wrong if you have to submit a $35,000 payment just to run.

 

Wait, 35.000 was the fee for the Republican ticket, which is why Colbert didn't apply for it (according to the article, he originally wanted to get on both tickets). The Democratic one is $ 2500, and although the difference between the two is surprising, that's still a LOT for getting some paperwork done.

 

Actually, they aren't allowing him on the ballot because he "lacks national viability". Given the polling results he's gotten both inside and out of SC, I'd say they were wrong, but that was the stated reason.

Given that the Democrats will add you to the ticket for free with a mere 3,000 signatures, I think 2500 bucks is perfectly reasonable.

 

For a primary, they are likely to be a bit more forgiving. For example, when the already moderate to right-leaning Joe Lieberman drifted so far away from core democratic values that he was actually more hawkish than most of the congressional republicans, the democrats ousted him not by telling him he couldn't run as a democrat, but by challenging him in a senatorial primary. In the end, it was his own constituents that determined he could no longer run as a democrat.

 

Technically, this is exactly what happened here: a council deciding that they can't let a certain person on the ticket even though he fulfilled the mechanical requirements - $2500 or 3000 votes (I didn't know about that, Drew, but I will trust you here - my knowledge of US electoral policy is sketchy at best). Mind you, I'm certain Stephen Colbert is at least more well-meaning than some of the people who will end on the Democratic ticket. Aux armes, citoyens - comedians are being discriminated against!

 

I think not

 

Joe Liberman anyone?

Past some age AND from a certain financial tier.
Not the just the US mind you - I can't think of any democracy where this isn't the case.

 

I was upset when I heard he wasn't allowed to run. It would actually be interesting to have a president who wasn't a lying piece of feces. I think he should run again next time, but actually start campaigning seriously a few years before, and in every state. It would be interesting to see if he can get some votes (although, with our crappy election system, he would have to win an entire state to even get some electoral votes... if he got 49% of every single state, he would end up with ZERO electoral votes, despite winning almost half of the nation).

 

As nice as that would be, it was quite obvious Colbert wasn't seriously running for president. It was obvious from the start he was doing this just to score a point and prove how ridiculous parts of the electoral process. In this respect I find it ironic that him being kicked out of the race goes such a long way towards proving his point.

Doubtful. After all, he ran the campaign as the alter-ego Colbert, and everyone knows that's not the "real" Colbert. In that case who would you be voting for, the "real" Colbert or the "fake" one? Some people might go along with the joke, but I don't think many would, and once the elections get serious no one will actually vote for him - because everyone knows he doesn't stand a chance against whoever the favoured Dem and GOP candidates will be.

 

Hmm, good point. Maybe he decided that he should lie a bit to stand any chances of getting elected? I'd say that at least from a statistical standpoint, he's right.

 

For clarification of the allowing anyone to run for president question:

Neither party is obligated to allow anyone at all onto their ballot or into their primary. They set base requirements and are still able to reject someone if they make up their minds to do so (Colbert had a $2,500 check made out to the Dems and was turned away) for whatever reason they so choose.

In spite of this, anyone can still run for president - no one said you had to be a part of either of the largest two parties to do so. Running as an independent or creating your own party for political backing hasn't been uncommon in U.S. History. Nader, for instance, has run as strictly independent at least once. Theodore Roosevelt ran again after his presidency for the fledgling Bull Moose party and received about a third of the national votes.

So, yes, anyone can run for president. There are national requirements to appear on the national ballot, however. I don't have any idea of what they are, but I know that quite a few political parties put up candidates for president that don't appear on the ballot for whatever reason, like the Communist Party and the Prohibition Party.