Stephen Colbert

MSNBC's Verdict with Dan Abrams tonight had an interesting piece in it's Beat the Press segment. Fox, in it's continual attempt to show John McCain in the best light possible, tried this one on for size:

The UK Telegraph continued its rollout of the 50 Most Infpundluential Political Pundits with numbers 20-11 today, and it looks like Colbert has been the beneficiary of a "Himself Bump," just edging out his friend, mentor, and microwave provider, "Papa Bear" Bill O'Reilly.

Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.Also sure to be disappointed are fans of Keith Olbermann, who landed at #13, forming the bottom slice of bread in an O'Reilly sandwich. I, myself, predicted a #1 finish for the Special Commenter, and must now further question the judgment of my tea-sipping, croquet-playing brethren across the pond.

Right behind "Delegate Math Whiz" Chuck Todd is my friend, Diana's fave, cranky contrarian Bill Maher. Even more politically incorrect at #16 is Glenn Beck, trailed by The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan, focus group guru Frank Luntz, CNN panelist Donna Brazile, and rounding out the 20th spot is Time's Joe Klein.

After the jump, the complete list-to-date, and the story so far.

As I reported here Tuesday, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is entering the lion's den tonight, going mano a mano with arch-conservative fundit Stephen Colbert for all the marbles.

As is our custom here at the Political Machine, we will cover the whole thing, gavel-to-gavel, LIVE!

To get things warmed up, here's Stephen singing the National Anthem with John Legend. See you after the jump, at 11:30 sharp.

If you're a candidate, Democratic or Republican, and are looking to boost your standing in the polls a bit, that appearance on the The Colbert Report might not be such a bad thing after all. Same goes for authors and musicians who have peddled their wares on the popular late-night host's program on Comedy Central.

An actual study (pdf) of this phenomenon has been done by political scientist James Fowler of the University of California showing "first scientific evidence of Stephen Colbert's influence on political campaigns". It has footnotes and everything!

While the graph below doesn't show a bump for Republicans, don't tell Stephen that. He informs viewers that he is single-handedly responsible for Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

It's been a long year, and sometimes, you lose track of everything that's happened. Was it this year when that astronaut donned diapers to drive 900 miles in a failed stalking of her lover's rival, or was that last year? Wait, were there 2 of those? If you think it's easy to remember everything that happened this year, try this quiz, then read my article once you've been humbled.

Now, lots of people are doing News recaps, but that's a little depressing for me. Maybe after Christmas. For now, I'll stick with the parodious, the satirical, the specious and fallacious. I'd like to walk you through the sublime, the ridiculous, the funny-funny and the sad-funny, and everything in between with 2007's Best Moments in Fake News.

Update: Alan Sepinwall reports that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will return to work Jan. 7, strike or not.

The Writer's Guild of America strike rages on, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, the two sides have begun to have productive talks. Both sides sound optimistic about reaching an agreement, but stopped short of giving an E.T.A. The studios proposed a flat $250.00 a year payment per year on streamed content, while the writers, understandably, want their compensation tied to the studios' ad revenue. The talks were scheduled to resume today in an "undisclosed location."

Even with the end sort of in sight, If you're anything like me, you're by now snarled in the throes of Daily Show and Colbert withdrawal. Add that to the fact that I celebrated my 100,000th hit on my Youtube Channel, and it seems like the perfect time to explore the interweb for alternative sources of fake news. Here's some of what I found, good, bad and ugly. You might want to read the rundown before you cycle through the videos. Just sayin'.

The Writer's Guild of America's strike is now entering its 2nd week, with no end in sight. The first shows to be hit by the strike have been, of course, late-night comedy/talk shows like The Daily Show and The Late Show. If you're anything like me, you start to get the shakes without a steady dose of political yuks.

It is to that end that I prefer to light a candle rather than curse the darkness. To keep you enthralled during this hour of crisis, I present to you, as selected by yours truly in a truly scientific process, the Top Ten Political Smackdowns! Or is it "Smacks Down?"

What a long, strange trip it's been, Stephen. Thanks for the memories. You brought us up just to let us down. We spent a lot of virtual ink on ya, buddy. Damn the pols that didn't take you seriously. Political Machine did!

Here and here and over here and right down here and over there and here some more and more here.

You filled our days with the blissful hope of escape from Hillary and Rudy and Fred and Obama and filled our nights with delicious visions of nacho-flavored taco chips.

Could've been so beautiful, Could've been so right. I'll never hold what could've been on a cold and lonely night.

Presidential candidate and right-wing fun-dit Stephen Colbert barely (bert-ly?) met today's noon deadline to file his ballot application for the South Carolina Democratic Primary, according to this AP story. Party officials have now decided not to place Colbert on the ballot, stating that he does not meet the standard of national viability, according to a report on CNN.com.

Colbert announced on his show last night that he would not seek the Republican nomination in South Carolina, citing the GOP's $35,000.00 filing fee, citing Federal Election Commission regulations and a fee that exceeeded the cost "...of my own black market liver." . With South Carolina's devastating announcement, Colbert's candidacy appears to be over.

To follow up on an earlier Colbert Watch post here, John Edwards spokesperson Teresa Wells had this to say last week about the potential impact a Colbert Candidacy might have on John Edwards chances in the SC primary:

From CNN's Political Ticker:

Asked about this apparent conflict, the Edwards campaign said that until Colbert wins the primary like Edwards did in 2004, he cannot claim to be a favorite son.

Edwards spokesperson Teresa Wells also ribbed Colbert for his ties to the snack food industry. Colbert has said his campaign will be sponsored by Doritos.

"What is more troubling than his quest for a status his own mother won't grant him (favorite son) are his ties to the salty food industry," Wells said. "As the candidate of Doritos, his hands are stained by corporate corruption and nacho cheese. John Edwards has never taken a dime from taco chip lobbyists and America deserves a President who isn't in the pocket of the snack food special interests.

Just. Hold. On.

It looks like the Edwards campaign may have "misspoke".