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Soon after Republican Senator Jim DeMint announced that he will retire from the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, a Stephen
Comedian Stephen Colbert.
By
Clare Kim
Soon after Republican Senator Jim DeMint announced that he will retire from the Senate to head up the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, a Stephen Colbert for Senate Twitter account showed up. The account’s first tweet: “Reporting for duty, South Carolina!” The twitter page now has nearly 1,500 followers.
DeMint was a member of the House of Representatives for three terms before being elected Senator in 2004; he was re-elected as Senator in 2010.
“I’m leaving the Senate now, but I’m not leaving the fight. I’ve decided to join The Heritage Foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas. No organization is better equipped to lead this fight and I believe my experience in public office as well as in the private sector as a business owner will help Heritage become even more effective in the years to come.”
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley will name DeMint’s successor, and a special election will be held in 2014. Although Stephen Colbert has not mentioned DeMint’s retirement on his own verified account and @ColbertforSC has not been verified yet, the “Colbert for Senate” twitter account has already tweeted Governor Haley several times to name him as Demint’s replacement.
Waiting on your call, @nikkihaley. I’d like to get this wrapped up before dinner. Thanks!
Stephen Colbert tweeted from his verified account, asking the nation to convince Governor Haley of his candidacy while creating the hashtag: #SenatorColbert.
Nation! Tell @nikkihaley why I should take over for Jim DeMint! #SenatorColbertCould our Better Tomorrow be… Tomorrow?
In an email to msnbc’s The Last Word,Carrie Byalick, Stephen Colbert’s publicist, issued the following comment.
“Stephen is honored by the groundswell of support from the Palmetto State and looks forward to Governor Haley’s call.”
It’s no surprise that the political satirist who spent his childhood in South Carolina would lust after the Senate seat, as he first announced a bid for the White House in 2007, and again in 2012 when he announced his candidacy for the “president of the United States of South Carolina.” While the “Colbert for U.S. Senate” website states that the site is “not affiliated with Stephen Colbert” and that it is a “draft petition from the Colbert Nation,” fans are already expressing their support for the comedian.
