Colbert Denied By Democrats

By Theo O’Brien

Stephen Colbert’s highly publicized attempt to run for Presidency of the United States seems to have come to an abrupt end. The South Carolina Democratic Party decided Thursday that Colbert did not meet the criteria of having a strong chance at winning—possibly because he has only applied to run in South Carolina.

 

“One of Colbert’s opponents on the executive council, Charleston Democratic party chairman Waring Howe, defended the decision.

‘Stephen Colbert clearly didn’t qualify under our rules, and it would have been a mistake and wrong to violate our rules,’ he said.” (1)

 

This obstacle in the pundit’s campaign is especially devastating, as he has opted not to run for in the Republican primary citing the $35,000 fee. Maybe revenue from his new book, “I Am America (And So Can You!),” will give him the funds he needs to get on the ballot as a Republican.

Additional Commentary by Nathan Schmitt

“The [Democratic] party’s executive council met Thursday afternoon in Columbia to decide which candidates met the criteria to be placed on the ballot, and Colbert didn’t make the cut, executive director Joe Werner said.

Colbert has said he will not file for the Republican party ballot because of the $35,000 fee, so the move likely ends his bid to officially run for president in South Carolina.” (1)

This highlights and interesting and probably unintended (by the framers of the constitution, that is) loophole in the democratic system we have developed in the United States. I’m by no means the first to point this out, but I definitely think it’s worth mentioning.

I’ve heard many people say, “The wonderful thing about the U.S. is that anyone can run for President.” This story seems to bring this statement into question. Sure, technically anyone can run as an individual or even through a minor party, but as the current system is set up, can anyone truly believe they have a chance at winning as such a candidate?

That’s not to say that these candidates can’t influence politics; they certainly can in many ways. But, if the two dominant parties filter the candidates in such a way, is it possible to claim and substantiate that anyone can become President? To be fair, the candidates are representative of the respective parties, so it doesn’t seem fair to blame it solely on the parties. But what does this mean about our democratic system as a whole?