Comedian Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, announced in October 2007 that he was running for President. Uniquely, he was going to seek both the Republican and Democratic nomination. However, he would only run in his home state of South Carolina.

In explaining why he should run for President, Colbert said, "it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative." He also announced his intention to "bring truthiness to the '08 race." However, Colbert was careful to distinguish between running for President and being President: "I don't want to be president. I want to run for president. There's a difference."

Eventually he abandoned his plans to run as a Republican due to the $35,000 filing fee. He paid the $2500 Democratic filing fee, but was excluded from the ballot due to the South Carolina Democratic Party's decision that he was not a "serious candidate." Colbert subsequently ended his campaign.

However, during his brief campaign opinion polls had put him ahead of candidates such as Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, and Dennis Kucinich.

Links: Wikipedia