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The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Colbert character confuses

Stephen Colbert tried to run for president of the United States . in South Carolina, at least. Colbert, whose fame is constantly hitting new levels as he reaches out to his audience, is a man of two faces: the character and the real person. The problem with Colbert running for president is that the public has to decide which Colbert is running.

That he tried to enter into the race as a Democrat-because, as the character Colbert explained on his show, the Republicans require a fee of $35,000 to get on the ballot, which was too pricey for Colbert-was in and of itself confusing, as Colbert touts himself as being a die-hard Republican on his show.

So which is it? The viewers of his show, the citizens of the world, and of South Carolina, were only left to wonder.

Despite the duality of the man, it is clear that his attempt to enter the race whether as a joke, or for keepsies, is drawing attention to the election. Often, elections can become stale and the campaigning just short of boring, but with a celebrity-especially a character of a satire based “news” show-the election is immediately enlivened and captures the attention of college aged would-be, could-be, should-be voters.

It is important that Colbert-and other stars of the screen-is attracting the attention of voters from the current college student generation because, let’s face it, we are the future. Without attracting the current generations into the voting booth, the repercussions could be severe. The percent of college students that vote, whether by using absentee ballots or reporting to their polling stations, is abysmal. If we do not see the absolute need to vote, we will not vote. However, Colbert shows us that it is not who you vote for, but rather the act of voting that makes us a great nation.

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Even if voters go to their polling places and vote for a character like Colbert in protest of other candidates, the act of voting is still reinforced as part of the democratic process. If nothing else, Colbert trying to run for president reminds us that we are still in a democratic society that values opportunity and freedom above all else. We are all, in fact, America.

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