With the GOP field narrowing even further with the withdrawal of John Huntsman, the most contentious issue of the contest is still the role of super PACs. Since the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, corporations have been granted the same rights as people in their ability to make anonymous donations to groups supporting a candidate, though the candidate is legally not allowed to have anything to do with the group.
The current state of affairs has been bemoaned, but used, by nearly everyone and has allowed candidates to stay competitive off the single giant donations of interested billionaires.
Though Huntsman has dropped out, one Stephen Colbert, the comedic character from Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, joined the GOP field. His show airs after The Daily Show every Monday-Thursday late night, and last Thursday he launched his exploratory committee.
Colbert had already been making waves after he started his own super PAC to demonstrate the ridiculous nature of money in American politics. Americans for a better tomorrow, tomorrow raised money and put ads on the air in Iowa. Though they poked fun at Rick Perry, they were not seen as particularly threatening.
With Colbert’s ‘entry’ into the race, he was legally not allowed to hold on to his super PAC and he handed it off to Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show. Over the past week the PAC has produced and aired ads that refer to Mitt Romney as a serial killer (if corporations are people and Mitt kills them – he must be a serial killer). This has upset many in the Republican sphere once again.
The story has an additional twist. Since Colbert can not get on the ballot, the latest add asks for voters to vote for Herman Cain, who has dropped out but is still on the ballot, and they will take that as support for Colbert.
Between Colbert and Stewart, American satire has never been so good. Young voters see The Daily Show as their political news outlet and through it express their disappointment at the polemical cable news networks in America.
Though super PACs have been a main subject of debate for the previous two GOP debates, it is Colbert and now Stewart who are really demonstrating the ridiculous nature of their existence. Despite the Republican desire to keep the debate focused on issues rather then personal attacks, Colbert will keep the spot light on the vehicle that the candidates have used to attack each other.
While many have complained about super PACs, it is the comedic talent of American satirists that might be able to convince the public of the need to change their system.
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Joel Braunold is is a Labour party member currently at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, MA. Follow him on twitter @braunold
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Also worth noting that one of the candidates, possible Perry, recently polled less than Colbert in an opinion poll!
“generally speaking Englishmen and Americans do not like one another.Now they are asked to pretend that they do.And this pretense of being affectionate cousins is as dangerous as poison .Better to confess our dislike- our hatred if you please-and ask ourselves what it is all about.Then there would be the possibility of ridding ourselves of it ” George Bernard Shaw 1930. ( these days there’s a list we can exempt of course, Shrek-Stevie Wonder ,etc – New York – MIT- some other bit and pieces…….
Is the Daily show really the best form of popular political critique in the US? Its (the international version available in the UK via the cable company Virgin Media) not very good… hardly informative, goes at inderviduals not ideas, and mainly has the presenter pretending to be a self centred egotist watching himself in the feed throughout the show….
Whats going on in the world?