He’s doing it! Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert responded to the masses by taking concrete steps to declare a presidential campaign,  just days after a PPP poll showed him with 5% of the primary vote in South Carolina. The first obstacle was Colbert’s beloved Super PAC, an advocacy group that can spend unlimited sums from undisclosed donors, but which legally cannot “coordinate” with a political candidate.

Cobert called on his personal legal counsel, Trevor Potter, a former John McCain campaign advisor, and one of the top experts on campaign finance in the country. Potter told him point blank that Colbert could not run his Super PAC and run for president at the same time. But, he did offer that Colbert could transfer leadership of the organization to someone else, who supposedly will not coordinate with the campaign.

Colbert said he had someone in mind, and brought out Daily Show host Jon Stewart to wild applause from the audience.

Of course, amid the hilarity, Colbert and Stewart (and even button-down lawyer Potter) were gleefully mocking the absurd practices of campaign finance surrounding SuperPACs, as established by the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision. As Potter repeats endlessly, the SuperPAC and the campaign cannot “coordinate”, a term that remains conspicuously vague. But can Stewart and Colbert still be business partners? Yep, that doesn’t count as “coordination.” Can Stewart just hire the Colbert SuperPAC’s current staff? Sure thing! Is there a lot of paperwork and oversight to transfer leadership of this hugely influential organization? Nope, just sign on the dotted line.

And so, Stewart took control of the newly-renamed “Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC.”

And with all that out of the way, Colbert boldly announced the formation of  “an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for [his] possible candidacy for the President of the United States of South Carolina!” On to victory!!!

What do you think? Would Colbert have your vote?

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