Stephen Colbert announced recently that he is running for the presidency of the United States of America. To some, this may be viewed as a celebrity throwing his hat into the political ring, ala the California elections for governor, but to most this is viewed as just another publicity stunt from the infamous satirist. For the most part, I would have to agree that this is a little far-fetched. However, there are some strong points in Colbert’s candidacy that not many people may realized.
For starters, he already has the ultimate forum for making his opinions known on many political issues. Being the host of a comedic newscast, “The Colbert Report”, Stephen Colbert has 30 minutes out of every weekday that he can voice his thoughts. Second, Stephen Colbert is a die-hard patriot, who expresses his love for the United States to an almost irritating degree.
Also, he would obviously be running in the Republican race, being that he makes it very well known that he has a strictly right-wing stance on American politics. This is a positive for Stephen Colbert because there are no real front-runners in the Republican party. Colbert obviously keeps up with what is happening around the world, therefore fueling his satire, and he has already rubbed elbows with many political activists and figures, including his most recent interview with Dick Cheney’s wife, as well as his notorious interview with actor Sean Penn.
The real humor in this to me is the fact that Stephen Colbert has announced that he will be running as both a Republican and a Democratic candidate. This, combined with the fact that he has been voted as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, means that Colbert could win some key votes that would hinder his competitors.
But, the reality of the matter is that the world may not be ready for Stephen Colbert to run the United States. While I can keep my own opinions of how this country is run to myself, I do believe that allowing a comedic celebrity to run the country may not be the best idea. First of all, if the United States wants to maintain any amount of credibility that it may still have with the world, then the elections must be taken very seriously. After all, this isn’t Man of the Year, this is real life, with real consequences for the actions of our nation.
The ideals that Stephen Colbert has put forth does show that he is conservative to the extreme, and while I have nothing against democrats or republicans, we are in a time where tolerance is also a key component for a candidate. Colbert has not shown much tolerance for any type of alternative political party, most of all anyone with an inkling of a liberal mindset.
He has no potential cabinet members, not many people even know the name of his wife, and I would find it hard to cut through the comedian Stephen Colbert and find what his real opinions are on certain issues. Besides, we can’t expect a candidate who is running on the platform of no tolerance for liberals, and the number one threat to our nation being bears, to have anything important to say about the real issues that our nation is facing, such as the war in Iraq and homosexual rights.
However, I do commend Stephen Colbert for going as far as announcing his candidacy for presidency. There have been times that I have watched “The Colbert Report” and thought to myself ‘what if?’ But, for the time being, I can only view this as a publicity stunt, just like attempting to name a foreign bridge after himself, and promoting his Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor by announcing that Willie Nelson’s “Homemade Peach Cobbler” is atrocious and unhealthy.
Now, if Jon Stewart, or maybe Brett Favre, were to bid for the White House, then we’d have a real race. Jon Stewart, who is the exact opposite of Stephen Colbert in every way, is the host of The Daily Show which is the liberal equivalent of The Colbert Report. With that being said, Jon Stewart is more appealing to a nation that has given our last republican president approval ratings as low as 36%. Also, Stewart is much more mild-mannered and open-minded than Colbert, but still has a tenacious edge when discussing real politics.
And for Brett Favre, well, he’s already an American hero. After all, who couldn’t love Brett Favre? He’s arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever live, and after breaking the record for most touchdowns thrown by a quarterback, he still humbles himself to Dan Marino, who is the former record holder. Also, he’s so close to retirement that he seriously needs to be considering what he will do with the rest of his life.
So that’s the future of politics. President Jon Stewart and Vice President Stephen Colbert, or Brett Favre and possibly Dan Marino, or maybe Mike Ditka? The world can only hope.
