Hmm, perhaps Barack Obama's campaign isn't above doing a few underhanded tricks. CNN reports that key Obama supporters in South Carolina lobbied the state Democratic Executive Council to keep the one true American in the race, Stephen T. Colbert, off the ballot.

"The Obama people, they just didn't want him at all," said one anonymous council member, who claimed to have been lobbied by former state Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, who has endorsed Obama.

"I think lobbying was too strong a word," Tenenbaum told CNN. "I called them to see what they were thinking, and if they had made up their mind. I am a volunteer in that campaign, and so I am not a staffer. And I thought it could have taken votes away from a lot of people."

Had Colbert made it to the ballot, he may have attracted the votes of college students who would otherwise have gone for Obama.

Stephen Colbert has dropped out of the presidential campaign, after the South Carolina Democratic Executive Council voted 13-3 last week to not let him on their ballot.

"Although I lost by the slimmest margin in presidential election history — only 10 votes — I have chosen not to put the country through another agonizing Supreme Court battle," Colbert said in a statement. "It is time for this nation to heal."

Stephen Colbert's effort to get on the South Carolina Democratic primary ballot has been blocked. The Politico reports that the state party's executive council has voted to reject his petition.

Besides the obvious cause — they were probably not amused by the joke — state party director Joe Werner implied there were acts of forgery in the ballot petitions. For example, the name of former Governor Jim Hodges was on the list.

Late Update: It turns out that despite Werner's suspicions, Colbert actually did meet with Hodges, the state's most recent Dem governor. It's not known yet, however, whether or not Hodges really did sign the petition.

Apparently Stephen Colbert isn't kidding about this, at least as far as the Dem primary in South Carolina goes.

Stephen Colbert went to South Carolina this weekend to promote his favorite-son candidacy, and he extolled the state's virtues and potential.

"In the 19th century, South Carolina was the first to secede. In the 21st we will be the first to succeed," said Colbert. "First to secede. First to succeed. I own the copyright on that phrase, if you use it you must pay me a royalty."

The campaign of South Carolina's other native son, John Edwards, is hitting back/playing along. Edwards spokesperson Teresa Wells attacked Colbert for taking the corporate sponsorship of 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."

Although he's only planning to run in the primaries in his native state of South Carolina, a new Rasmussen poll finds that Stephen Colbert might have some pull as a third-party candidate.

In a three-way race with Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, Hillary has 45%, Rudy 35% — and Colbert breaks double digits to get 13%. With Fred Thompson as the Republican nominee, it's Clinton 46%, Thompson 34%, and Colbert 12%.

Colbert seems to draw most of his support from the GOP column, indicating a real unhappiness among Republican voters — either that, or conservatives who have watched his show really don't get the joke.

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.

CNN does the digging and finds that Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert's bid to appear on both the Democratic and Republican presidential primary ballots in his native state of South Carolina — reminiscent of the satirical campaigns run by the late Pat Paulsen — may be trickier than he first envisioned.

The state Democratic Party's Executive Committee, who will vote on approving Colbert's appearance on the ballot, has rules that state that a candidate must be "actively campaigning" for the Democratic primary. That could complicate matters for Colbert, since he would be "campaigning" in both parties' primaries.

The state GOP's rules are more relaxed — candidates do not require executive committee approval and the party would not block a cross-over bid. However, Colbert would have to pay the state GOP $35,000 in order to appear on their ballot, since state parties in South Carolina reimburse the state government for the costs of holding the presidential primary.

Colbert has until the end of the month to file his nominating papers with both parties.