Stephen Colbert's rare out-of-character appeal for his sister's campaign

The Comedy Central host steps out of his conservative-pundit persona to plug the House candidacy of a Democratic family member

Elizabeth Colbert Busch
(Image credit: Facebook.com/ColbertBuschForCongress)

Stephen Colbert became a Comedy Central star thanks to his portrayal of a tone-deaf conservative pundit. And over the years, Colbert has shown an amazing commitment to keep up the act almost everywhere he goes. But Colbert made a rare exception this week, breaking character while stumping for his sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who is running for Congress in South Carolina.

"Some of you may know that I have a television show and not only am I Stephen Colbert, but I play one on TV," he told a cheering crowd.

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Well, that's "something you don't see every day," says MSN Now. And Colbert is right — if Colbert Busch wins the Democratic primary, she really might "face philandering former governor (and Appalachian Trail enthusiast) Mark Sanford." Sanford is trying to make a comeback after leaving office scarred by an extramarital affair that was discovered in 2009 when he was caught sneaking off to Argentina to meet his mistress, after telling his staff he was going on a long hike. "Oh, man, would her brother have fun with that."

In the end, though, having a famous brother likely won't be enough to put Colbert Busch over the top, says Reuters. Stephen Colbert has a history of winning laughs by bringing "his antics into South Carolina politics." That doesn't mean he can win votes for a Democrat who will have to face a Republican in a May 7 election in this very red state.

The conservative district has sent a Republican to Congress since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. So most political analysts in South Carolina expect Sanford to eventually win back his old congressional seat despite his scandal and a celebrity presence on the Democratic side. [Reuters]

Yes, Colbert Busch will "face an uphill battle given that the congressional district skews heavily Republican," says Josh Voorhees at Slate. This is, after all, Sanford's former seat, which is vacant because Tim Scott gave it up when he was appointed to take a vacant seat in the Senate. Still, Colbert Busch's "family connection clearly gives her an unusual advantage, and makes the race mighty hard to predict at this point."

Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.