{"id":8629,"date":"2012-12-10T15:11:42","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T23:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8629"},"modified":"2012-12-10T15:11:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T23:11:42","slug":"could-stephen-colbert-join-al-franken-to-form-a-senate-comic-caucus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8629","title":{"rendered":"Could Stephen Colbert Join Al Franken To Form A Senate Comic Caucus?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Pix\/Misc\/colbert-franken.jpg\" alt=\"Stephen Colbert - Al Franken\" class=\"alignleft\" \/>Public Policy Polling has just <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicpolicypolling.com\/main\/2012\/12\/colbert-tops-sc-voters-senate-wish-list.html\" target=\"_blank\">released a new survey<\/a> of South Carolina residents on who they would prefer as the replacement for Sen. Jim DeMint, who is leaving the senate to head the conservative Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Among those included in the speculation are long-time state pols like former governor Mark Sanford, his ex-wife Jenny Sanford, congressmen Tim Scott, Joe Wilson, and Trey Gowdy, and GOP official Henry McMaster. All of these folks would be conventional picks for Governor Nikki Haley, whose responsibility it is to appoint DeMint&#8217;s successor.<\/p>\n<p>But leading the pack is Comedy Central&#8217;s Stephen Colbert, a South Carolina native and former candidate for President of the United States of South Carolina. According to PPP&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Colbert tops the wish list of who South Carolina voters would like to see join that body at 20%, followed by Tim Scott at 15%, Trey Gowdy at 14%, Jenny Sanford at 11%, Henry McMaster and Mark Sanford at 8%, Jeff Duncan and Joe Wilson at 5%, and Mick Mulvaney at 4%.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This could send shock waves through the political world. Colbert has a hefty campaign war chest via his Super PAC that has nearly a million dollars left over from the presidential campaign. He has a devoted following that is nationwide in scope, and a platform for expressing his views on his television show, which gets a bigger audience than Fox News. He has <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/k1T75jBYeCs\" target=\"_blank\">testified before congress<\/a> on labor issues. He delivered an epic speech before the <a href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/BSE_saVX_2A\" target=\"_blank\">White House Correspondents<\/a> He has won two Peabody Awards. However, he also has powerful enemies. Nancy Pelosi launched the Stop Colbert campaign earlier this year:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lLH0fT3mbe0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Yet to be heard from is Minnesota senator Al Franken. The two have a common background and could form a coalition in the senate to advance legislation favorable to political satirists. A <em>&#8220;Comic Caucus&#8221;<\/em> in Washington could be a significant counterweight to the other congregation of politi-clowns, the Tea Party.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Colbert nor Gov. Haley have given any indication of their intentions. For Colbert the decision has to include consideration of the fact that a seat in the senate would be a demotion for him. He has far more influence where he is now, although he could earn more money taking kickbacks from lobbyists who would eventually provide him with a multimillion dollar job when he tires of the senate, just as Sen. DeMint has done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public Policy Polling has just released a new survey of South Carolina residents on who they would prefer as the replacement for Sen. Jim DeMint, who is leaving the senate to head the conservative Heritage Foundation. Among those included in the speculation are long-time state pols like former governor Mark Sanford, his ex-wife Jenny Sanford, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,15],"tags":[179,483,187],"class_list":["post-8629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-humor","tag-al-franken","tag-jim-demint","tag-stephen-colbert"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-2fb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1332,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1332","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":0},"title":"Gov. Sanford&#8217;s Treatment By The Liberal Media","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/15\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a few examples of how the so-called \"liberal\" media rushed to smear Republican Gov. Mark Sanford after he surfaced from his hike in Appalachia ...er... vacation in South America ...er... tryst with his Argentinian mistress. These are emails sent to Sanford to solicit him for interviews. Griff Jenkins\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6191,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6191","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":1},"title":"Sunday Funnies Featuring Stephen Colbert And Mitt The Ripper","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/15\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This election season's most electrifying development is the announcement that Stephen Colbert has formed an exploratory committee to discern whether there is a \"hunger\" for him to enter the race for the Republican nomination for President of the United States of South Carolina. Colbert has already placed in polling that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Election&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22414,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=22414","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":2},"title":"Stephen Colbert On The GOP&#8217;s Pernicious Scheme To &#8220;Fix&#8221; ObamaCare (Video)","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/14\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"As 2014 began there was a furious racket emanating from the Republican ranks over the Affordable Care Act and how it would be the all-consuming issue in the midterm election. In fact, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was so adamant about keeping focused exclusively on ObamaCare that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stephen Colbert","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-stupid-americans.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-stupid-americans.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-stupid-americans.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":654,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=654","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":3},"title":"The Stephen Colbert Campaign Catches Fire","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/23\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Since announcing his intention to seek the nomination of both parties for President of the United States, Stephen Colbert has demonstrated a deft media strategy (appearing on Meet the Press, Larry King, etc) and popular appeal. In the first poll to be released since his announcement he shows both strength\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35460,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=35460","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":4},"title":"Shades of Stephen Colbert: Republican National Committee Runs Most Ludicrous Poll Ever","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/21\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Things continue to go south for Donald Trump and his Republican Party. But could anyone have predicted this utterly asinine nonsense? This is an actual poll question sent by the RNC: This is how desperate the GOP is to pump up their floundering president. They have resorted to a poll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stephen Colbert","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/rnc-poll-colbert.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/rnc-poll-colbert.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/rnc-poll-colbert.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70002,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=70002","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":5},"title":"Trump Bids Farewell to Stephen Colbert With His Trademark Nastiness, Lies, and Bitter Jealousy","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/22\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The \"Late Show with Stephen Colbert\" has officially entered the realm of history with his spectacular finale on Thursday night. His legacy of brilliance, warmth, insight, and humor will be remembered by chroniclers of both entertainment and politics for many decades to come. Click here to post this article on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art\/Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art\/Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stephen Colbert & Trump Baby","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/colbert-trump-baby-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8632,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8629\/revisions\/8632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}