Delegate Rules Mean A Tough Road For Colbert
Can Stephen Colbert win a delegate to either national convention? The Atlantic's Josh Green explores that very question, and comes up with some interesting answers:
• Delegate-apportionment rules matter. On the Republican side, Colbert would have to carry a Congressional district — a tough order, to say the least. On the other hand, he would only need to break 15% in a single Congressional district, such as the Second District with its large population of students, in order to win a Democratic delegate.
• Colbert is not the only candidate running for protest votes — he could face some competition from Ron Paul.
• Other vanity candidacies by celebrities have fared poorly, such as Gary Coleman's run for governor of California or the many satirical campaigns by Pat Paulsen for president. In Paulsen's campaigns, he never won any delegates.
I just figured that this Colbert talk was just about a comedian trying to get more publicity like Pat Paulsen. If he really is serious, he should try Iowa. All he has to do is try and get people to show up and pledge support to him at the caucus sites. You don't have to fill out delegate slats or any of that stuff. Unfortunately, the Iowa Caucus is so early this year that it comes when all the college campuses are on winter break.
October 22, 2007 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink