The Colbert Bounce

New polls suggest that the candidate in my heart if not exactly on my ballot (Although since I'd probably be voting in the Michigan primary, there aren't exactly a lot of names on the ballot at the moment. And, no, it's Dem primary or nothing for me. I'd rather jab a fishhook through my urethra than pull the lever for a Republican, any Republican, at this point.) has entered the race at a blistering pace. Pulling ahead of such Democratic stalwarts as Gov. Richardson and pocket master Kucinich. And he's got Biden squarely in his sights. He's not doing so well on the other side of the isle, getting a single percentage against the Republican contenders. But that's okay since I think Mr. Colbert would rather play spoiler and blacken the blue. All the better to pave the way for the inevitable victory of the eventual conservative candidate. But, if true, this could mark the beginning of a grassroots campaign. One which would take Mr. Colbert from the bottom of the polls to a credible challenger for the frontrunners on both sides.

Which, of course, is hilarious. The guy's a commedian and this is all wicked satire and nothing to take seriously. That he gets any traction at all, is the worst indictment of our present political system that I can think of. And it's going to be an awesome joke. As a longtime Daily Show viewer I remember the first Indecision series and Colbert and Carrel and others running rampant through the campaigns and conventions, sending up the pretentious ongoings brilliantly. But the sort of outrageous pranks they pulled in 2000 just didn't materialize in 2004. Maybe it was just the seriousness of the times, the bleak feeling in the air, or even the wrong mix of correspondents but they didn't exactly knock it out of the park in '02 or aught six either. And I think the reason is that they've become co-opted by the political establishment. Been turned into a regular campaign stop. And the party leaders are wise to their tricks and have structured things to allow them their fun but without letting them really sink the knife in and twist the blade around. Which, hey, price of success and all and it's nothing different than what happened with other forms of press coverage like 24-hour cable or televised debates before. But what better way to top satirizing the press coverage of campaigns than to skewer an actual candidate by staging a fake run for the White House. Just imagine. All the Daily Show/Colbert Report team needs to do is get enough votes to give them one delegate. And then they get a seat at the conventions and a backdoor pass to everything. That's when the satire really gets piping hot.

So, yes, I understand this is all one big joke. But, still, I take offense at the traditional media here. The ones who are frothing at the mouth at the thought of covering something actually interesting during the campaign at the same time they're sneering in public. Telling me, for example, that the prime demographic for Mr. Colbert comes down to the beer drinkers and pot smokers. That anyone pulling the lever for the Colbert campaign thinks it's all one big joke. The subtextual implication being that they're college students and wastoids, without a coherent thought in their heads or a serious understanding of what a presidential primary is really about. Well, fuck them, too. Just where do they get off telling other people what to do with their votes or patting me on the head and informing they know better because they're smarter and more informed. I think plenty, thank you very much. And, yeah, maybe I've done some binge drinking at a frat party or two, maybe I spend most of my time trying to top my friends crude humor or by amusing myself with decidely unserious pursuits. But that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing.

I would seriously vote for Colbert instead of Hillary. And if it wasnt for the concerns about the court and the federal departments which so dearly need a competant administration to right after the Bushies are finished knocking them over, I'd consider it for most of the others. Because, from what I can tell, he's more smart, he's more brave, and he's more truthier than anyone else in the race. Yes, he's a joe. But so is everyone else in the race. And that's what most of us who'd pull that lever for Colbert undertand. It is all one big joke. But the joke is everyone who takes this bloated, corrupt system seriously. We can't fight it. We can't change it. But we can sure as hell make outrageous cracks about it behind its back while we're getting high to forget how stupid it all is.

Update:

Even better, another poll shows Colbert getting double digits as a third party candidate in a hypothetical race against Clinton and Giuliani.

Another shows Jon Stewart getting 8% of the vote in a run for president.

This isn't a bug. It's a feature of the sad state of events we find ourselves in.