Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain Have Conflicting Messages at Rally

Say what you like about Stephen Colbert, when he steps away from the set of his show, he has a real knack for motivating the hell out of young, politically minded folk.

Whether it’s at the Rally to Restore Fear and/or Sanity on the National Mall in 2010, or the massive gathering that showed up to support him in his quest to create a Super PAC in 2011, Colbert and his ensuing bump should- if it does not already- inspire no small bit of envy and fear in the politicians he’s capable of provoking support or outcry for or against. Essentially, if Reddit was a person, it would totally be Stephen Colbert but maybe with less color from the sun and more chins.

Now that Colbert has his Super PAC- well, “Jon Stewart’s Super PAC” and most recently named the Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC- he’s been stumping for Herman Cain in today’s GOP battleground, South Carolina. Colbert happens to be from the state, hilariously referenced in a bit on his show where a Frank Luntz rally attendee calls in a “Charleston Dandy,” and it was there he hosted his “Rock Me Like a Herman Cain” rally.

At the event yesterday, Colbert mainly cracked wise to his presumably left leaning audience, saying:

“If corporations are people then I’m a people person. So it’s a civil rights issue. I don’t like it when people compare me to Martin Luther King. I like it when I do it myself… I’m the Martin Luther King of corporate civil rights. I’m the Lockheed Martin Luther Burger King, you might say.”

However, in typical Colbert fashion, the pointed satire was not entirely absent. He added:

“The pundits have asked, is this all some joke? If they are saying this is a joke, then they are saying the whole system of campaign financing is a joke.”

Do you think Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain’s rally could be effective in raising awareness about campaign finance reform?