John Edwards said Stephen Colbert are both South Carolina natives.
CHERAW, South Carolina (CNN) - Former Sen. John Edwards said Friday that having comedian and fellow South Carolina native Stephen Colbert on the Democratic presidential primary ballot would have made the electoral process a little more fun.
Asked by CNN about the state Democratic party's decision Thursday to keep Colbert off the ballot, Edwards laughed and said he had not heard the news.
"Is that true?" he asked, smiling and looking around at reporters. "I hadn't heard about that."
Edwards, whose campaign issued a light-hearted statement last week saying they would "kick Colbert's butt" in South Carolina, said he would have liked to see Colbert run.
"I kind of like Colbert on the ballot myself," Edwards said. "I think it adds a little bit of interest. I like it though. I think it's fun."
Related video: Watch Edwards discuss Sen. Clinton and Stephen Colbert
– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby
From CNN Politics
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If for no other reason, the SC Dems should have let Colbert on the ballot in order to increase interest among the young people of America who whould have been more interested than ever to engage in the policial electoral process to support someone they actually connected with.
Good break for you, John, now you have a shot at third place again.
They wouldn't put Colbert on the ballot?
What jerks.
He would've beaten Edwards in SC...
Edward's campaign most likely was involved in squashing Colbert. He would have hurt Edwards in SC. It was a funny idea but its a god thing he is not running, it would have hurt the 2nd tier canidates by robbing them of votes from those dissatisfied with Hitllary as the nominee.
This is an absolute slap in the face to democracy. The whole story of this country is that if you want to run for office, you can. You don't need to have the approval of the politburo. While this was basically done for humor, that's really of no consequence. A citizen was denied the right to be placed on the ballot by a committee because they didn't happen to like him. If anything is a lawsuit, this should be. There is no excuse for this sort of behavior in this country.
coz you are a joker too can not even win your state in 2004!
It might not be over:
http://www.ColbertforSouthCarolina.com
If the choice that I'm given is Hillary and Colbert against any of the current replublican candidates, I'd take Colbert in a heartbeat: a) he's not been raising up to $1MM/day!...raising the possibility that he'll not be plagued by promises made to be both sides of every issue;
b) he's sufficicently self-effacing to allow facts...and not political debts...to determine his conclusions.
c) he's a LOT more interesting than any of the current candidates.
Most importantly, as there's no reason to beleive that his candidancy is about to become active in any other states, I don;t see where his candidacy is SC is a threat to the democratic process in the other 49 states.
John Edwards has the right attitude: Colbert's candidacy can only lighten up, not diminish, the '98 election.
In response to Jon,
I think your comment is a bit incorrect. A party can pick who ever they choose as their candidate. However, the democratic part of this country is that anyone can run. Stephen can run anytime he wants in any political office, only that he cannot run as a Democrat.
A lawsuit would just be a waste of time and resources.
Sounds like Edwards is just trying to win votes of people who like Stephen Colbert.
I agree with Jon from San Mateo. Of course this was a joke and meant to be a goof. But it exposes an interesting flaw in the process. ANYONE who has the required number of signatures or pays the fee should be allowed on the state ballet.
I submit that people all over the country should write in his name. Just make sure you spell it correctly.
there must be a state were both can run for free and for laughs?
Interest is something Edwards can't generate at all.It would have been fun to see Colbert whip Edwards butt in his own state.
No, rejecting Colbert was not a slap in the face to Democracy. He has his own tv show where he can make jokes about politics all he wants. Candidates can't force their way on to his show and require it to be serious. His farce candidacy would have been a slap in the face of the elctoral process. It's bad enough that the front runners have to share the stage with people who already have no chance of winning...and you're complaining that an illegal and farcical candidacy was rejected? Go watch the Daily Show, since you seem to equate Comedy Central fake news with real politics.
At least with Steve Colbert, we KNOW where he stands! Can you say that about the Clintons? Or Edwards? Or Obama?
I think it's time for A. Whitney Brown (formerly of Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show) to start working for the PoliticaTicker at CNN.COM. "CNN is looking for an associate political editor with strong editing and reporting skills to help the network cover the historic 2008 elections. Primary responsibilities will be to edit and write for the CNN Political Ticker, as well as serve as an off-air reporter. Previous television experience is not required, but strong newswriting ability and experience covering politics are a must."
They shut out a winner again cuz he's not part of their corpatocracy.
It's not really anti-democracy if you think about it. He wasn't denied the ability to run for president, he was denied the ability to get the democratic nomination from the state of SC. If he want's to run on the SC ballot for president he can. He just has to follow the official process and not run as a Democrat.
I would have liked Colbert to be included on the ballot, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a slap in the face of democracy. This was for the Democratic Primary ballot, so if the Democratic Party didn't want Colbert on the ballot, that's their choice because it's their party.
I don't think we could restrict him from the electoral ballot though.
To "Jon Nadelberg". He can still run as an independent, just not a democrat. There is no slap in the face of democracy, my friend.
There's always the write-in...
@Jon Nadelberg -
Nothing stops Colbert from running on an Independent ticket. He has been prevented from running as a Democrat that is all. His rights have not been impugned and anyone with half and ounce of sense understands that. You'd think if you knew so much about what the "story" of this country is that you would grasp that very simple fact.
Make him Vice Prez, duh!
Is this an unfair and undemocratic system. Is this what America is all about, the biggest Mafia our Government.
Do you believe this will end Colbert's run for the White House or will he go Independent?
-–> http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=864
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