The campaign is called “Stop Colbert” and the Colbert in question isn’t the Comedy Central host but rather “Stephen Colbert” the character. On the campaign’s Facebook page and in a tongue in cheek video, Pelosi pretends to attack Colbert as a pro-Super PAC money hoarder, which is, of course, the fake position of the show’s satire. The video is even designed to emulate one of the parody Super PAC ads that the Report has been making in the past few months.

Here’s Pelosi’s jokey narration:

“Stephen Colbert used to be my friend. I even signed the poor baby’s cast when he hurt his hand. But since the day he started his Super PAC, taking secret money from special interests, he’s been out of control, even using his super PAC to attack my friend, Newt Gingrich. And if that weren’t enough, I hear he doesn’t even like kittens. Colbert must be stopped. I’m Nancy Pelosi and I support this ad because Americans deserve a better tomorrow today.”

It’s a smart choice from Pelosi. Honestly, Colbert and his show has done more in the last year to let Americans know about the negatives of Super PACs that, say, the Obama Administration could ever hope to (especially now). By positioning herself (we’re assuming from the slightly inferior production values on both the ad and Facebook page that Colbert’s actual team had nothing to do with this) as being both in on the joke and part of solution, Pelosi might be able to give the bill the Colbert bump it needs.

Still, just like Stephen Colbert will probably never actually run for office, there’s something a little uncomfortable to watching Pelosi try her hand as a comedian.

(h/t HuffPo)

RELATED: Rocky Road: Newt Gingrich Sued For Using ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ On Campaign Trail

“As much as I love Newt, he violated something I love even more. Copyright law!” Colbert exclaimed. “And Newt should be more sensitive to copyright infringement, because as Survivor guitarist and co-author of the song Frank Sullivan points out in his complaint, Newt himself is the author or co-author of over 40 copyrighted works, and that doesn’t even count his album of hoedown song parodies ‘Newtenanny.’ Well, there is only one way to even the score. I say an eye for an Eye of the Tiger. I believe someone should sing Newt’s latest book, A Nation Like No Other without permission!”

And who else could do it — but the original voice behind “Eye of The Tiger,” Dave Bickler! For several minutes, Bickler sang line after line from Gingrich’s book to the tune of “Eye Of The Tiger.” Colbert interrupted Bickler to how long the song was going to be.

“We rehearsed it,” Bickler quipped. “It’s 28 hours.”

Watch Bickler perform lines Gingrich’s book below via Comedy Central:

Colbert then demonstrated how users could interact with her music using various touch-pad motions.

“It has apps that go with it,” Colbert observed. “I have to tell you the apps are kind of dangerous because I was trying to watch your album while driving to work today and nearly killed myself! Like look at this. Are we turned up here? Look at this–an app that allows you to–I get to join the song! Look at that — and then if you go through the phases of the moon, it changes what the song is like. That is extraordinary.” Colbert later asked if he could lick the album.

RELATED: This Exists: Iceland Rewrites Their Constitution Using Suggestions Through Twitter

Bjork explained she created her album with a touch screen, a lemur device. She had planned to do this in 2008, but the technology didn’t exist at the time.

“You’re using this to teach kids about science and music at the same time,” Colbert exclaimed. “Why sully something as beautiful as music with something as ugly as science?”

“I was excited about science when I was a kid,” Bjork shared.

“Do you people believe in elves there?” Colbert asked. “I read you people believe in elves in Iceland? Is that true?”

“We do,” she acknowledged. “It’s sort of a relationship with nature, like with the rocks they all live in the rocks, so you have to– it’s all about respect, you know.”

“You gotta respect the elves?” Colbert quipped.

Watch Björk’s interview with Colbert below:

And watch her perform “Cosmogony”:

RELATED: Herman Cain Blasts President Obama In Tea Party SOTU Response, Praises Colbert

Echoing comments he made to Neil Cavuto last week, Cain explained that, as much fun as he’s having with Colbert, it’s also a great way to talk to the young voters of America.

“It’s a mutual use because he reaches the youth vote that I happen to believe will be very critical to winning the election in November. And so one of the things that I’m focusing on is helping to keep the youth vote inspired. You have to go where they are. They’re watching Colbert. They’re watching Jon Stewart. I’m going to go to college campuses. That’s one of the things I’m going to do. And so I want to keep the youth vote, I want to keep the disgruntled Democrats, I want to keep some of the Republicans and conservatives that might be losing interest because of all the negativity. We’ve got to keep them inspired. So Colbert represents and outreach to the youth vote and that’s why I enjoy doing things with him.”

Cain also talked about the candidates he left behind, calling their continuous attacks on each other “divisive” because “they’re not divisive on solutions.” He did, however, say that either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney could beat President Obama but he wouldn’t endorse anyone in particular. Phillips pushed him, reminding him that he said at the beginning that America needed a businessman president, but Cain would only offer a few pro’s and a few cons for both.

RELATED: Colbert Bump: Herman Cain Gets Over 6000 Votes In South Carolina

Watch the clip from CNN below:

“With all due respect Mr. President, some of us are not stupid,” Cain exclaimed. “The state of the union is not good!”

RELATED: Herman Cain Defends Colbert Rally To Cavuto: Young Voters Think ‘The Mainstream Media Is Boring’

While Cain’s speech wasn’t aired on any of the networks, it was streamed live on the Tea Party Express’s website.

“The American voters are saying ‘we ain’t stupid.’ They know it was well timed and planned, and people are waking up to the dirty side of politics,” Cain continued. “They hadn’t awaked totally to the dirty, negative side of politics when I was first attacked, but I happen to believe that people are waking up.”

“I think Stephen Colbert’s endorsement of me is a marvelous thing,” Cain added. “Keep the youth vote inspired! Keep the college vote inspired! I asked Stephen to do some rallies he said I have 160 shows to do, so. We might do some on a selective basis.”

Watch Cain deliver the Tea Party response to President Obama’s SOTU:

FOX News was first to project Newt Gingrich the winner, with percentages in full forthcoming– The feuds with Juan Williams and John King seemed to help: What this means for the future of the other campaigns is as uncertain as the future of Gingrich’s.

Plenty for the Sunday morning shows to mull over. Coverage of the election results via Fox News below:

Watch Newt Gingrich’s South Carolina Victory Speech via Fox News below:

Watch Newt Gingrich’s First Reaction To Win In SC On Fox Business Network:

[Photo via]

RELATED: Stephen Colbert And Herman Cain Seem To Both Be Enjoying Their Unlikely Partnership

Cavuto began the interview by asking about Newt Gingrich and the recent claims by his ex-wife that he had wanted her to partake in an “open marriage.” It seemed to do nothing to stop his rise in the polls in South Carolina, except, perhaps, exacerbate it. “The attack on Newt wasn’t coincidental,” Cain replied, “and I believe voters connected the dots. They saw what happened to me and now, the same attack on Newt.” He called it a “coordinated effort to take down whoever is on top,” and refused to say who was behind it, but credited the people of South Carolina with being “sick of it.”

He responded that there was “no difference” between what happened to him and what happened to Gingrich, but that “some people in the media wouldn’t stop spinning these false accusation over and over and over [and] that was painful to my wife.” He added, on a totally different type of attack, that he would not release his tax returns if he were Mitt Romney. “They want to give liberals one more nugget to basically continue the class warfare,” he argued.

The talk then turned to Colbert. “Why are you doing this?” Cavuto asked. “No one talks about the youth vote and the college vote,” he replied. “With all due respect, they believe the mainstream media is boring.” He described his event with Colbert as an “exhilarating experience,” and challenged the premise that Colbert was “trivializing the process.” “The FEC rules are flawed to begin with… all he is doing is using his platform to help keep college students engaged.” While he added that he “explicitly told them not to vote for me” at the rally, he noted that, as any candidate with a SuperPAC, “I can’t tell Colbert what to do,” but only encouraged people to not “be part of the problem– be part of the solution!”

Cain also had nice words for Neil Cavuto’s impressively salmon tie.

The segment via Fox News below:

RELATED: NBC’s Chuck Todd Blasts Stephen Colbert: ‘He Is Making A Mockery Of The System’

Baldwin was talking with College of Charleston professor Amanda Ruth-McSwain about Colbert’s recent rally with Herman Cain in South Carolina and asked why the college allowed the late-night comedian on campus. “I think that ultimately the decision to actually host Stephen here was that our students — at the end of the day –this is where they turn for the news. So many of them are in the discussion through listening to things like the Jon Stewart show, and Stephen Colbert, and you know, it is still part of the political process for them. It is educational and that is where they are getting most of the information and making most of their decisions.”

“Hang on, hang on! I have to stop you. Look — you said this is where students are getting their news?!” Baldwin asked incredulously. “On Comedy Central?! As an associate professor, does that worry you at all?”

“Um, you know, clearly, it is not something I necessarily would encourage, but at the same time I hope that people are getting their news somewhere, you know. So, although it’s, it is satire at the end of the day, it is at least exposing them to political process and opening up the discussion and getting them involved. So although it might not be ideal, it’s what the facts are.”

Watch via CNN below:

RELATED: Stephen Colbert And Herman Cain Seem To Both Be Enjoying Their Unlikely Partnership

Fortunately for those of us not in South Carolina, MSNBC has the rally streaming live on the Internet and you can watch it below.

He also had some kind words for rival candidate Newt Gingrich, who is currently having a less-than-enviable moment in the spotlight. After sharing that honesty is the best policy when letting one’s spouse know one would like to open their marriage, Colbert praised Gingrich’s highly underrated tactics:

RELATED: Samuel L. Jackson Narrates Scathing Colbert SuperPAC Attack Ad Against Stephen Colbert

Here’s the thing that I don’t think Newt Gingrich gets credit for. Ok, a lot of politicians screw around on their wives, but he was enough of a gentleman to ask permission first. Ok? That’s a Southern gentleman.That’s what Robert E. Lee would have done.

When asked whether he thinks Mitt Romney is “skilled” enough to beat Barack Obama, Colbert responded that he didn’t know, adding that a recent poll shows voters might prefer another candidate altogether:

I think Mitt Romney is probably a very good guy. But a recent poll put out by Marist and paid for by the Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC has found that 41 percent of South Carolinians are not satisfied with their choices. You know, don’t think that’s good news. I don’t think that’s good news for anybody but Herman Cain. [...] I have the highest favorability rating of any of the Republican candidates, even though I’m not one. Nationally, not just out here. Nationally I have the highest favorability ratings, Joe.

While Joe Scarborough found that to be “absolutely disturbing,” he LOVED Colbert’s fun fact about Ron Paul: “Do you know,” Colbert asked, “that if you guess Ron Paul’s name correctly, he has to teach you to spin hay into gold?” Mika Brzezinski was less amused.

On a more serious note, Colbert noted that he really does admire Ron Paul, particularly for his “intellectual consistency.”

Watch, via MSNBC:

“Is it fair to the process? Yes, the process is a mess, but he’s doing it in a way that it feels as if he’s trying to influence it with his own agenda, that may be anti-Republican. And we in the media are covering it as a schtick and a satire, but it’s like, ‘Well wait a minute here…’ he’s also trying to do his best to marginalize the candidates, and we’re participating in that marginalization.”

Todd said that the “mainstream media” (his quotes) has a responsibility to exercise some caution and question what Colbert’s agenda is. “Is it to educate the public about the dangers of money in politics and what’s going on?” He asked, “or is it simply to marginalize the Republican party? I think if I were a Republican candidate, I’d be concerned about that.”

While expressing admiration for how Colbert has exposed a lot of the idiocy involved with the marriage of politics and money, and saying he enjoys his show, Todd went after both Colbert and Jon Stewart for mocking members of the media, then backing off and saying “we’re just comedians” when the members of the media call them out on it. “Actually, no you’re not [comedians] anymore,” Todd said. “You are mocking what we’re doing, and you want a place in this, then you are also going to be held accountable for how you cover and how you do your job.”

Watch the clip below, courtesy of Winthrop University’s YouTube channel.

(H/T: Huffington Post)

RELATED: New Colbert SuperPAC Ad Encourages SC To Vote For ‘Herman Cain’ (Stephen Colbert)

That previous line is uttered as a clown wind surfs on the screen– an allusion to the now-famous 2004 anti-John Kerry “windsurfing” ad– and Jackson continues his attack with more and more damning evidence, like “Why is the T in his name silent? What else is he hiding– letting murderers out of jail?” Jackson notes that Colbert was not “running attack ads against him just so we’ll think they’re not coordinating,” but still explodes in a rage unseen since the film classic, Snakes on a Plane– in fact, it’s a variation of the most famous line in that film. The ad concludes endorsing Herman Cain, and warning that American can’t afford a president like Colbert (with an old clip of Colbert telling Conan O’Brien, “I just think that Rosa Parks was overrated.”

The “attack” ad below:

“Mr. Cain does indeed find this entertaining,” Cain spokeswoman Kathy Hoestra told FoxNews.com. “In fact, Mr. Colbert is meeting up with Mr. Cain in South Carolina this Friday to record a segment for The Colbert Report.”

Hoekstra added that COlbert had gotten in touch with the Cain camp late last week. Cain even released a statement, saying that he finds Colbert’s push to resurrect his name on the ballot to be clever and humorous. “Anyone who finds what Mr. Colbert is doing offensive, should simply lighten up,” Cain’s statement read. “To be perfectly clear, I will not be assuming Stephen Colbert’s identity. We are very different when it comes to the color of our — hair.”

Will the strategy work? Maybe. Colbert has said that if enough people vote for Cain, he might consider upgrading his nascent exploratory committee to something a little larger. And with the Florida primary just 10 days after South Carolina’s, the GOP race could be in for at least a tiny boost of fun.

“This is all the product — the predictable product, I guess, of the Citizens United ruling by the United States Supreme Court, this out-of-control SuperPAC environment,” O’Donnell observed. “Do you think Stephen Colbert is helping by showing how crazy this has become or is he letting people relax about it and thinking it’s just kind of funny and turning it into something too light?”

RELATED: New Colbert SuperPAC Ad Encourages SC To Vote For ‘Herman Cain’ (Stephen Colbert)

“Never underestimate the affect of satire in politics,” Reich proclaimed. “I think it does have a positive effect, but when you come right down to it, this is not a joke. I mean, SuperPACs, money in politics — completely out of control right now and it all does go back, not just to what the Supreme Court did two years ago, 5-4 majority, Citizens United against the FEC, saying essentially that corporations are people, and then also combined with the prior Supreme Court case that said money is speech. Well, if corporations are people and money is speech, the net effect is to open the floodgates to money in politics right now in a way that we haven’t seen in this country for over 100 years…I mean, essentially we’re losing our democracy. i don’t want to be overly dramatic about it, but that is the only thing that I can say. we are — we have to take our democracy back, Lawrence.

“Colbert has handed the PAC over to (Jon) Stewart so he can say that Romney line, ‘I have no control over this SuperPAC,’” O’Donnell noted. “I mean, he’s doing everything that highlights what’s wrong with these SuperPACs — where do we begin to try to get control of this?”

“We probably do need a constitutional amendment,” Reich proposed. “That’s the conclusion that many lawyers and constitutional experts have come to. The Supreme Court, unless we get a radically different Supreme Court soon — and we’re probably not all that soon, the way to do it, the most direct way to do it, it’s going to take some time, but the most direct way to do it is to have a constitutional amendment.”

Watch O’Donnell analyze Stephen Colbert’s satirical presidential campaign below via MSNBC:

RELATED: New Colbert SuperPAC Ad Encourages SC To Vote For ‘Herman Cain’ (Stephen Colbert)

Stewart took to his desk in a bejeweled tiara, only adding as explanation “I’ve come into a bit of money,” then showing the moment that he received control of the SuperPAC, and then added, “I don’t know what to do with the money– Stephen Colbert, by the law, cannot coordinate with me.” “I’m just out here like a cartoon hobo who just won the lottery,” he added, so he spent money on the tiara and things like air-writing numbers into the air that should look like they spell “BOOBS” in China.

“There’s no way Stephen Colbert wanted Jon Stewart to blow his money on all this crap,” he joked, adding that even if he did, he could only publicly say so. On that note, he went and bought himself the fanciest omelet ever, courtesy of Mario Batali. And he paid extra for the most disgusting way to digest it possible.

The segment via Comedy Central below:

RELATED: Colbert Super PAC Airing ‘Mitt the Ripper’ Ad In South Carolina Narrated By John Lithgow

The ad notes that “the people of South Carolina are frustrated,” but advises that there is, indeed, one name on the ballot that they can believe in: Herman Cain (at this moment, Stephen Colbert appears). To reassure the public, it notes that “he’s such a Washington outsider, he’s not even running for president!” There are also some elderly dancing cheerleaders and other bits of surrealist Americana.

The video via Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow (and the press release accompanying the ad below):

FOR LICKETY-SPLIT RELEASE

The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC Releases New Ad Urging Voters To Support Stephen Colbert, Who Is Not Running

TELEVISION, USA – The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC released a new television commercial today in South Carolina, in advance of the upcoming underfunded GOP Primary. The ad, entitled “Not Abel,” shows support for Stephen Colbert’s possible candidacy by offering voters a way to show support for Stephen Colbert’s possible candidacy.

“Tragic new reports show that South Carolinians can sometimes go for several minutes at a stretch without seeing a single political ad,” said Jon Stewart, President For Life For Now of The Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC.” Even more tragically, we discovered that one visionary leader wasn’t having his voice heard: Stephen Colbert. Now I can proudly say: He’s still not having his voice heard, because we do not coordinate with any candidate or campaign.”

The spot begins running today as a massive, multi-dozen-dollar ad buy in South Carolina. Snooty types who love to mention how they never watch television can view the ad here.

The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC, nèe Colbert Super PAC, is officially known as Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, but is secretly hoping it will get a cool nickname like “Buzzsaw” or “Snakes.”

Maggie Haberman understood the satirical message of Colbert’s intentions, but expressed some concern that people unfamiliar with his work might mistake the intentions of his character as completely sincere, as well as missing the satirical nature of the new ad the Colbert Super PAC has bought airtime for in South Carolina.

RELATED: Public Policy Polling: Colbert Has Edge Over Obama With South Carolina Independents

Kurtz then played a clip of Colbert’s appearance on This Week today, but instead of focusing on one of the bits where Colbert (in character) talked about the effect of the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance and making a serious point or two, he played the clip of Colbert mockingly disavowing himself from Jon Stewart. (Kurtz explained this was because George Stephanopoulos was referencing an interview he conducted with Ailes a while back.) Glynnis MacNicol argued that the reason the media has now given a laser-like focus to Colbert is because of how he gets across serious points in entertaining ways that make it easier for audiences to absorb information.

Kurtz, however, appeared to take Colbert’s actions more seriously than anyone else. He pointed out that the Super PAC has tens of thousands of donors, and wondered what kind of an impact the media could have in covering Colbert leading up to the South Carolina primary. Nia-Malika Henderson took the less serious route, saying she found Colbert’s actions “just funny” and predicting his impact on the race will be minimal at best.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CNN:

RELATED: Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC Releases Its First Campaign Video: Episode IV: A New Hope

Stephanopoulos began by bringing up the biggest issue Colbert will have getting on the ballot in South Carolina. Namely, getting on the ballot in South Carolina. Since write-ins are not allowed and the filing deadline was months ago, Colbert’s chances of getting on the actual ballot are slim. But he joked that would not stop him, because if NASA could get on the moon and put cheese into the pizza crust, anything is truly possible. But he was definitely discouraged by the Republican party barring write-in campaigns, saying “that doesn’t sound like freedom to me.”

If his GOP candidacy falters, would Colbert consider a third-party run? Colbert didn’t speculate that much, continuously reminding Stephanopoulos that he is still in the exploratory phase of his campaign. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility that he may abandon his campaign if he sees a better candidate on the horizon, provided, of course, they kiss his ring.

Then the conversation switched to the organization formerly known as Colbert Super PAC, and Stephanopoulos played a segment of the advertisement being run by the PAC in South Carolina, attacking Mitt Romney for being a “serial killer” with respect to corporations. Colbert satirically distanced himself from the ad, reminding Stephanopoulous that Stewart was now running the PAC and candidates are not legally supposed to coordinate with Super PACs. And then, in a complete parody of Newt Gingrich, Colbert stated if information in the ad was inaccurate, it should be edited out for the sake of fairness. (Also, Colbert pointed out what a lot of us may have missed upon first viewing the ad: the narrator of the “serial killer” ad was John Lithgow, who famously played the “Trinity Killer” on Dexter. Coincidence?)

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Tempts OWS Protesters Into Selling Out With His SuperPAC Money

After fielding some questions from Facebook, Stephanopoulos reminded the Republican candidate that his former Super PAC is now being helmed by a man whom Roger Ailes claims is a hater of all things conservative. Colbert referred to Ailes as a friend, before agreeing with those sentiments and insisting that Jon Stewart being the new leader of the Super PAC would make it easier for him to disown anything the PAC does from now on.

Watch the full interview below, courtesy of ABC:

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Salutes Romney’s Position On Corporate Personhood: ‘Dr. Martin Luther, Inc.’

The new ad, courtesy of Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, is titled “Attack In B Minor For Strings.” It was released online late last night, along with a press release by Stewart, the Super PAC’s “President For Life For Now.”

“Mitt Romney claims to be pro-corporations,” said Jon Stewart, President of The Definitely Not Coordinated With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. “But would you let him date your daughter’s corporation? Americans have been clamoring for a comprehensive study of this crucial issue, so we splurged for the full sixty-second commercial. We think South Carolinians will agree – they deserve a leader who shares their state’s values, and perhaps even their state’s initials.”

The new spot begins airing today in a major ad buy that will blanket South Carolina from Charleston all the way to North Charleston.

The ad is narrated by actor John Lithgow, proudly labeling corporations as “America’s greatest institution.” But as both Mitt Romney and the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling have declared, corporations are legally people and have the same rights. And yet, as the ad claims, when Romney was in charge of Bain Capital, he split up companies and “got rid of what he couldn’t use.”

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Is Now Offering $500K To Sponsor South Carolina’s GOP Primary (With A Few Conditions)

But if corporations are people, and Mitt Romney carved up corporations while at Bain, then by the candidate’s own logic, the ad declares, he is a “serial killer.” The ad encourages South Carolinians to vote for anyone except “Mitt the Ripper.”

Watch the ad below, courtesy of Comedy Central:

RELATED: Bill O’Reilly And Bernie Goldberg Tear Into NBC For Handling Of Romney/KKK Story

“There are few media personalities that have any influence anymore,” O’Reilly noted, making the point that an elite of television hosts have a great deal of control over what information the public gets, even with the internet’s diffusing influence. Ben Stein agreed with the general premise that “the audience has been more dispersed because of the internet,” but still say the thread of liberal thought in the fact that a great deal of the public “believe every word Jon Stewart says, that’s the gospel about everything.”

Columnist Linda Stasi countered that she did not believe the personal politics of the comics made a difference, given statistics showing that President Obama was the target of jokes far more often than many Republicans, but Stein did not agree, arguing that “the cool kids are all Democrats and leftists” which makes the ideology generally appealing.

O’Reilly rattled off the names of most of the network late night hosts– Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel– suggesting they all at least lean liberal. “Who is a conservative late night guy?” he asked Stasi, who replied that the number of jokes about President Obama was overwhelmingly higher than that of any other Republican candidate. O’Reilly insisted, however, that this did not answer the question of why there were so many on the left in the popular culture, and let Stein have the last word on the matter: “the jokes about Obama are affectionate; the jokes about Mitt are mean.”

The segment via Fox News below:

“Now that that is all cleared up, nation — I have a major announcement to make,” Colbert declared. “For over a day now, the people of South Carolina have been crying out for someone who can restore our nation’s former greatness to its current perfection. Well, America, that someone is now! I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the President of the United States of South Carolina! Whooo, whooo, whooo! And with your help, and possibly the help of some sort of outside group that I am not coordinating with, we can explore taking this country back! Thank you. God bless you all! And God bless Citizens United!”

Watch Colbert officially declare he’s “doing it!” below via Comedy Central:

Part 1:

Part 2:

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Welcomes ‘Fresh Faced’ GOP Candidate Stephen Colbert, Teases ‘Major Announcement’

Stelter was in attendance at the Colbert Report taping earlier in the evening and made the announcement via Twitter, which many cable news stations broke live to report.





Stay tuned for the official announcement!
(h/t Brian Stelter)

RELATED: Romney Trips On Contraception Question: ‘It’s Working Just Fine, Just Leave It Alone’

“So is it difficult to be a member of the press in front of a Republican audience? ” Colbert joked. “Okay, and I’ll give you a specific example. You got into a section there where you were talking about contraception. You were asking questions about contraception.”

“The right to privacy, contraception, right,” Stephanopoulos replied.

“Why was it so important?” Colbert asked. “Why were you talking about contraception so much? Don’t get me wrong, any guy sitting next to Diane Sawyer for that long at least thinks about it, but why did you make it part about the debate?

“It was about the right the privacy. One of the candidates had said he believes that the states have the right to ban contraception. I was asking Mitt Romney the same question,” Stephanopoulos answered.

Colbert then played footage of the debate, and got the ABC News anchor to respond:

Colbert: OK, OK. Romney’s basically saying you’re a silly little child. And the audience is going, “We hate him, too.” What does it feel like at that moment?
Stephanopoulos: At that moment, I’m thinking, I really want to win this bet.
Colbert: What was the bet?
Stephanopoulos: Diane Sawyer bet me that I couldn’t get Mitt Romney to say “contraceptions are working just fine.”
Colbert: Really?
Stephanopoulos: I won. [Laughter]
Colbert: You got him to say “contraceptions are working just fine.” Even though, from the number of children he has, he has no idea how they work.

Watch Stephanopoulos share details of Sawyer’s bet below via Comedy Central:

(h/t Daily Caller)

Clearly, this changes everything.

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Is Now Offering $500K To Sponsor South Carolina’s GOP Primary (With A Few Conditions)

Colbert joked about the fact that he was beating Jon Huntsman, a candidate who had once specifically courted the “Colbert bump.” Colbert’s explanation was that the bump must have reflected off of Huntsman and back to him.

“That happens in the rare instances where my guest is even whiter than me,” Colbert said.

Colbert then teased that he would be making a “Major Announcement” on tonight’s show. What will it be? We don’t know but we can only assume that it will change everything forever.

Watch the clip from Comedy Central below:

“Our team at PPP,” their release reads, “decided if he couldn’t get all that stuff on the actual ballot, we could at least poll it for him.”

So PPP rounded up 1,112 likely Republican primary voters, and found that Colbert is polling at 5%, putting him in sixth place, ahead of Jon Huntsman (4%).

More surprisingly, however, is that Colbert only has a 17% favorability rating, with 41% finding him “unfavorable,” and 42% “not sure.” The poll, conducted between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, did turn up some good news for the Comedy Central host: 67% of those responding believe that “only people are people” (while 33% believe “corporations are people”).

More fun findings?

-Of those voters who supported Mitt Romney in the 2008 primary, 1% would now go for Colbert. But 13% of Rudy Giuliani voters would cast their vote for Colbert, putting him behind only Newt Gingrich and Romney among Giuliani’s primary voters.

-Colbert was favored by 3% of women and 6% of men.

-Colbert received 2% of his support from people over 65.

-Colbert has 2% support from those identifying themselves with the Tea Party.

The entire report is available here, courtesy of Public Policy Polling.

UPDATE: Huntsman was confronted with the numbers by Shepard Smith during an interview Tuesday evening on Fox News.

RELATED: Buddy Roemer Tells Mediaite: DC Is Bought And Sold By Special Interests…Average Citizen Has No Chance

Roemer is a staunch supporter of campaign finance reform, working to end the corrupt dealings with lobbyists and Super PACs that he says have ruined our campaign process. Just today, he went on Morning Joe to blast the other candidates for the “disgraceful” way they lie and claim they have nothing to do with their PACs.

Sounds great, right? Do you want to contribute? Well, then put away your wallet and get out your Twitter account.

A few days ago, Mashable wrote about how Roemer’s official web site was designed by a social media firm and how they’re using the Internet in a number of innovative ways (They have to. It’s not like there are huge mountains of money coming in). Perhaps the most innovative is the request that supporters “Donate Tweets.” This means that users get an app on Twitter that automatically retweets one Roemer message a day.

Here’s how Roemer’s official website explains it:

“What type of tweets will you send?
Nothing controversial, we promise! Tweets will typically include requests for help, such as asking others to follow @BuddyRoemer or volunteer for the campaign. Tweets may also include television appearances or recent articles about Buddy.

How do people know they are from the campaign?
Every Tweet includes a ‘via’ link, whether you are sending your message from the web, Tweetdeck, Echofon, or other platforms. When the campaign sends a Tweet through your account, it will be clearly marked with “via Donate Tweets to Buddy”, which links to this page.

How do I cancel?
Simply revoke this application on Twitter. Under Settings, go to Applications, find “Donate Tweets to Buddy” and click Revoke Access.

Ready to get started?
All you need to do is sign in through Twitter, and we will take care of the rest!”

The man behind it and Roemer’s Twitter account, Zach Green, goes into more detail about how the process works and why he thinks the strategy is a sound one in this article.

Like I said at the top, we’re in a time where you can’t make a dent in the race without a ton of money and, well, so far Roemer has done just that; made no dents. While Green and the rest of Roemer’s team can talk up how he is “the most retweeted candidate,” the fact remains that he isn’t in the debates and really isn’t in the conversation.

Still, you have to respect the man for his convictions. As everyone from Roemer to Stephen Colbert (a Roemer fan by the way) has pointed out, we desperately need campaign finance reform to move this country forward. And the tweet donation thing is really innovative.

You have to ask, though, does innovation count if you’re mostly silenced and pushed aside? Would it be better for Roemer to play the game so that he can get in the position to change the faulty rules? In many ways, Roemer feels like the Preston Tucker of campaigning. Sure, some of Tucker’s advances were eventually accepted by the auto industry, but none of us will ever drive a Tucker Sedan. Hopefully, people start listening to Roemer even if it seems unlikely we’ll ever see him in the White House.

Like this line: Santorum, a little more than a week ago, said he doesn’t want to make “bla- people’s” lives better by giving them someone else’s money. Hmm, what was that? Santorum is “pretty confident” he didn’t say black. He says he started to say a word and then “blah” came out.

Colbert totally understands. “Sometimes the tongue gets lazy,” he said. “Probably because it’s Meixca … people.” And don’t trust the media, he added, because it’s controlled by the “jewwwwws … people.”

“Now that might seem anti-semitic, but I’m pretty confident I didn’t say Jews,” Colbert said.

Watch Colbert defend Santorum’s blah people remark via Comedy Central:

Note – this post was written by David Taintor for Talking Points Memo and appears here via a content sharing agreement with Mediaite.

Lucky guy. The most God’s ever said to Mediaite is from that one burning bush that told us to stop doing Casey Anthony posts or he’d kill our first born son. Presumably Geekosystem.

Anyway, whereas some newsmen would become consumed by jealousy in the face of Robertson’s sweet Jehovah hookup, Stephen Colbert was ready to help the cause, praying for His forgiveness for electing that stupid, Socialist jerk face.

RELATED: God Told Pat Robertson Who The Next President Will Be

Not only did Colbert pray for our protection, he went all the way, bumping up his regular “Prayer Hat” to a sparkly “Somprayero.” Now that screams “humble before the face of the Lord.”

Perhaps the best moment of the segment, however, came as Colbert cycled through the protective measures for different calamities Robertson mentioned. It got me thinking, is there anything more powerful than a writer on a successful TV show? These guys just say “Get me a chicken!” in the morning and, within a few hours, a chicken’s there. That is real power. Hell, I’m starting to think we should all start worshipping TV writers instead of God, am I right?

…oh, now I did it. Here comes the talking bush again.

Watch the clip from Comedy Central below:

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Mocks Erin Burnett’s ‘Flicking’ Abilities

Recapping the Colbert segment, Burnett played it and turned to the end, where he showed an image of her and asked “CNN, is this your graphic?” Apparently, Burnett explained, it’s not: it’s a CNBC photo from 2005. She understood why he would make that mistake, she explained: “you were excited about your new toy, forgot you were a pretend journalist for a segment.” But Burnett wasn’t looking for a struggle against Colbert, as she defined the “truthiness” to be, and used a Michael Jackson song to make her point: “I want to flick with you.” So it wasn’t so much a confrontational challenge as an invitation to hang out and learn about each other’s flicking abilities (though not so much the part that involves flushing Burnett down a virtual toilet connected to the Colbert Report logo).

The segment via CNN below:

RELATED: Watch The Entire CNN Team Lose It At 1:30 AM Waiting For Iowa Results

Colbert unveiled the Flictronic-Tron 5600 to siren blares and cheers. “Welcome to the Flictronic-tron 5600! Where the news will not stay in one place. Okay. Now, let’s bring up Erin Burnett’s lovely photo and flick!”

Watch Colbert mock CNN’s “flicking” technology below via Comedy Central