If you are a Republican politician who called your third place finish in New Hampshire “a ticket to ride on,” the last thing you want to hear is that your polling behind a comedian who isn’t even on the ballot. But that’s exactly what has happened to Jon Huntsman.
According to a new PPP Poll, comedian Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central is ahead of Jon Huntsman in the South Carolina Primary. The poll shows Colbert with 5% and Huntsman has 4%. The thing is, Colbert isn’t even on the ballot in South Carolina, while Huntsman is the only legitimate sane Republican in the race.
Huntsman downplayed the poll on Fox News by discussing his October appearance on The Colbert Report. “Well when I was on his show recently he promised me the Colbert bump. I think we are getting that here in New Hampshire, now I am going to be looking for the Colbert bump in South Carolina.”
It has to be a little embarrassing though. Huntsman is the one candidate in the field that isn’t hell-bent on destroying the country, yet even a comedian who portrays a nutty conservative persona on television does better in the polls. That’s pretty much a death-blow for moderates in the Republican Party.