Facebook is not necessarily an accurate indicator of public opinion, but if it were, Stephen Colbert, a Web site favorite for the presidency, just lost his chance.
On Thursday, Democratic Party leaders rejected Colbert's bid to be placed on the South Carolina primary ballot, the only state in which he planned to compete.
Colbert announced Oct. 16 his candidacy for the presidency during his show "The Colbert Report." Despite his rejection in South Carolina, more Facebook profiles demonstrate support for him than any other presidential candidate.
The Facebook group "1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T. Colbert" has grown to more than 1.3 million members since its creation Oct. 17. The second most popular group about the 2008 presidential race, "Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary)," against Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has been around since February and has only 534,544 members. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has a group of supporters that comes in third with 390,200 members.
Many AU students who are members of the Colbert Facebook group said they joined and support Colbert's candidacy because they are cynical about the U.S. election system.
"Why not vote for a joke candidate when the system is a joke already?" said Richard Phillips, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs. "The comedy of 'The Colbert Report' is a bitterly harsh satire of conservatism and American politics in general. Colbert's presidential run is going to allow him to turn his harsh satire more directly and visibly on to presidential primary politics."
One student questioned Colbert's sincerity in pursuing the bid to be on the ballot.
"He is a comedian, not a politician," said Michael Anthony, a sophomore in the School of International Service. "On the other hand, I think he would have done really well."
Another student said Colbert should have a chance to run.
"It's part of the democratic process," said Justin McCrarey, a freshman in SIS.
However, some said they joined just because they found the idea humorous.
"I joined because I thought [the group] was funny," said Sharon Raya, a sophomore in SPA. "It made me laugh."
Raj Vachhani, a high school student who created the group, said he believes the group was popular because the demographic of "The Colbert Report" viewers was similar to that of Facebook users.
Facebook was originally created only for college students but grew far more inclusive over the past years. The social networking site currently has more than 42 million active members, and nearly 40 percent of users were over 35 as of May 2007, according to a study by ComScore Media Metrix Inc.
Like many other political candidates, Colbert attracts a certain demographic of supporters.
Colbert's audience tends to be young, white, educated and male. Their median age is 37 and there's a 60/40 male-female split, according to Joshua Green, writer for the Atlantic magazine.
