Is it possible we're living in a world where people are so desperate for a President who'll lead them that they'd actually vote ... for Stephen Colbert?
According to Rasmussen Reports, one of the most reliable polling firms in the States, Colbert would get 13% of the vote in a hypothetical three-way between himself, Sen. Hillary Clinton and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. That's just 6% points below where Ross Perot ended up finishing behind Slick Willy and the elder Bush in 1992. And Perot was a very serious candidate, whose main policy plank about reducing the deficit wound up being co-opted by Billy.
That a joke candidate could produce such strong numbers says a lot about both the quality of the candidate field (the leaders -- or rather who the Exempt Media want to be the leaders -- are crap; while the trailers with real ideas are being ignored) as well as just how important next year's results are going to be. America is facing a crisis of confidence the likes of which have only been seen three times before -- Shays' Rebellion, the Civil War and the Great Depression. Colbert of course is not a serious candidate; but the facts are simply that neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mr. Giuliani have what it will take to guide America through the huge shakedown that's coming.
Perhaps that's the point of the exercise.
As Colbert says, "I am America, and so can you." Who will be the next guiding light; to lead Americans and the world? I'm not optimistic if the best hope right now is a guy who's running on both slates to lose on purpose.
UPDATE (Saturday 8:16 am EDT, 1216 GMT): Minor grammatical corrections. Also, thanks to all those who added me to their Facebook lists this week -- people from high school I thought I'd never hear from again.
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