On October 16, 2007, satirist Stephen Colbert (in the guise of his character) officially announced that he would run for President of the United States.

In the week prior to announcing his candidacy, Colbert appeared on a number of talk shows to promote his book I Am America (And So Can You).

During these interviews, he parodied potential candidates' standard approach to a White House run, giving broad and generally unprompted hints towards a campaign on shows like Larry King Live.

[1][2] "A lot of people see this book as testing the waters for a run for political office," he told King in an October 14, 2007 interview.

[5] On the same day, Colbert took over The New York Times opinion columnist Maureen Dowd's column, which he used to engage in similar speculation: "I know why you want me to run, and I hear your clamor ...

John Edwards has never taken a dime from taco chip lobbyists and America deserves a President who isn't in the pocket of the snack food special interests.

[15] In addition, Edwards booked American film actor and celebrity Danny Glover to stump for him in South Carolina on the same day Colbert was making his appearance in the state; a chance at a "perfect political salvo", in the opinion of one reporter, although one left underexploited.

[18] Colbert had planned to appear at the College of Charleston on October 27, but was unable to make the event due to a scheduling conflict.

"[13] Colbert also made an appearance the same day at the University of South Carolina, where, playing to interstate rivalry,[23] he promised to "crush the state of Georgia".

[3] On the October 31, 2007 episode of The Colbert Report, Colbert announced that he would no longer be seeking a spot on the Republican Party ballot, primarily because he was unwilling to write a $35,000 check to the Republican Party, but also because spending more than $5,000 on his campaign would make him subject to greater levels of scrutiny under federal election law.

The following day, November 1, 2007, the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council voted 13–3 to refuse Colbert's application onto the ballot.

[25] On the April 28, 2008 episode of The Colbert Report, guest Feist said that she had been planning to offer her song "1234" as the official campaign theme.

On the June 11, 2009 show, Colbert stated that if he were to run for president again, he would claim his time spent in Iraq as part of the USO as "military service."

Joe Werner, executive director of the State Democratic Party, had been called by a Colbert representative three weeks before the announcement, for queries regarding filing dates and other requirements.

Katon Dawson, chairman of the State GOP, had been called on October 15, a handful of hours before the show declaring Colbert's candidacy was taped.

[45] Write-in candidates must generally submit forms with intention to run prior to being written-in by the populace; however, some internet campaigns started to garner interest in writing-in Colbert as a purely satirical exercise.

Katon Dawson, South Carolina's Republican party chairman believed Colbert would be better off using the $35,000 entrance fee to "buy a sports car and get a girlfriend".

As one reporter for The Atlantic wrote, "Sam Brownback may cite other reasons for dropping out today, but Colbert's plan to run in South Carolina wouldn't have made his job there any easier.

"[62] Democratic candidate Barack Obama jokingly questioned the authenticity of Colbert's "native son" posturing: "I don't get much of an accent.

Upon announcing the results of the election in South Carolina, a state won by John McCain, Colbert's portrait was featured next to the two candidates, framed by Doritos chips.

In the Marvel Universe, Colbert's campaign successfully continued as a third party candidate running against both McCain and Obama, on a "Populist" platform.

[68] On November 5, 2008, Marvel announced that its fictional newspaper The Daily Bugle was reporting Colbert's victory over both John McCain and Barack Obama.