COMIC Stephen Colbert is starting to show up in the presidential polls.
Not high in the polls, but Colbert, who announced last week that he is running for president, is the choice of two percent of the Democrats nationally, according to reports.
And that – we kid you not – is good enough for fifth place in the Democratic primaries right now.
The late-night political humorist ranks behind Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards – but ahead of Gov. Bill Richardson, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel.
He is in a statistical dead heat with Sen. Joe Biden – 2.7 percent for Biden versus 2.3 percent for Colbert , a virtual tie in a poll with a five percent margin of error.
Among Republicans, however, he is dead last – behind not only the front runners like Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. Mitt Romney, but also marginal candidates like Reps. Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul.
Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm based in Virginia, added Colbert’s name to its latest survey of likely 1,000 voters late last week. The polling period included last Sunday, when Colbert made a deadpan appearance on “Meet the Press” to insist his campaign is serious.
It was the first national poll that tested how well the comic might do.
“It’s clear that Colbert’s truthiness image and ‘I am America’ message has serious resonance among Democrats,” Neil Newhouse, a POS partner, told reporters.
Colbert says he intends to run in both the Republican and Democratic primaries in his home state, South Carolina, early next year.
He has until next week to officially get on the ballot.
While it has been pretty clear that Colbert’s run for the White House is a joke, some politicos are worried that – if he does enter the race, even in jest – his presence might have an effect on the outcome of the primaries.
The turnout in primary elections are notoriously small and the results can by decided by a relative handful of votes. If Colbert pulls only a few thousand votes, it could still be enough to change the rankings.