Comedian Colbert leads poll for SC Senate


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SALT LAKE CITY — If South Carolinians get their way, a comedian will be their new senator. The campaign to install Stephen Colbert as Sen. Jim DeMint's replacement is picking up steam.

Colbert, of The Colbert Report and Comedy Central, is leading real politicians in a poll of who South Carolinians believe should replace outgoing Sen. Jim DeMint. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will appoint someone to replace DeMint, who is leaving the Senate in January to run a conservative think tank.

The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, shows Colbert leading the pack, favored by 20 percent of respondents. He is followed by Tim Scott at 15 percent, Trey Gowdy at 14 percent, Jenny Sanford at 11 percent, Henry McMaster and Mark Sanford at 8 percent each, Jeff Duncan and Joe Wilson at 5 percent each, and Mick Mulvaney at 4 percent.

Monday night Colbert said, "They love me in the Palmetto state because I love it. I love the beaches. I love the mountains. I love the beautiful old estates that have no negative historical connotations whatsoever."

Colbert acknowledged some alleged detractors.

"Of course not everybody is happy with my imminent appointment," he said. "For instance, the Atlantic called me ‘vastly overqualified.' And NBC.com says, ‘Sen. Stephen Colbert' perhaps not as crazy as 'Sen. Jim Demint.' What?"

A few words of caution when you're looking at these polling numbers: Though Public Policy Polling has a reputation for being accurate, it's also the same group that showed Colbert was better-liked than Jon Huntsman in South Carolina early in the presidential campaign.

And last week a poll from the group showed 49 percent of Republicans believe ACORN won the 2012 election for President Obama. ACORN, a community-based organization advocating for low- and moderate-income families, no longer exists.

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Andrew Adams

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