South Carolina Senator (Colbert?)

[Roy Rolling]

Last edited Sun Jul 12, 2026, 05:57 AM - Edit history (1)

I hear there’s an opening for the job of senator from South Carolina and someone will be appointed to fill that seat in the Senate.

I also hear Stephen Colbert is “suddenly” available.

[mercuryblues]

1. Sounds good to me.

[Golfnbrew]

35. Annie

I would love Colbert, he is so sharp, but we already have an excellent candidate, Annie Anderson, a pediatrician.

[sop]

37. Annie Andrews

[Golfnbrew]

46. Thank you

Yep, Anderson was stuck in my head, Andrews is correct!

[SocialDemocrat61]

2. No more TV celebrities

running for office.

[Roy Rolling]

3. Appointed

Not “running for office” Appointed until a special election.

But I would never rule anything out, including TV celebrities after the excellent job performance by Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Ukraine.

[SocialDemocrat61]

4. The one exception

How has electing a TV celebrity for President worked out for this country?

[True Dough]

52. Al Franken was a fine senator,

until he was run out of town.

[SocialDemocrat61]

53. He was a reliable democratic vote

as has been Tina Smith, but Franken didn’t really accomplish much during his time in the senate.

[True Dough]

54. Very subjective

Franken's accomplishments in the Senate:

The Affordable Care Act's "Medical Loss Ratio" (MLR): Franken successfully added a provision to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring health insurance companies to spend at least 80-85% of premium dollars on actual health care and quality improvement, rather than administrative or marketing costs. If insurers exceed the limit, they must issue refunds to customers.

The Franken Amendment: A prominent anti-contractual provision enacted in the 2010 defense budget preventing the Defense Department from doing business with major defense contractors that forced employees to sign mandatory arbitration agreements for sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment claims.

Mental Health in Schools: He championed and helped pass the Mental Health in Schools Act, which directed federal grant funding toward training school staff and establishing comprehensive mental health services for at-risk youth.The Comprehensive Justice and

Mental Health Act: He sponsored this, signed into law in 2016, which provided funding and resources for law enforcement and mental health courts to better assist individuals with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system.

Veterans and Service Animals: He spearheaded provisions in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act to pilot and expand service dog therapy programs for veterans suffering from PTSD and other severe mental health conditions.

Financial Oversight: He secured a provision in the 2010 [Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act](britannica.com Act) to crack down on the conflict of interest where financial institutions actively shopped around to get preferential credit ratings from agencies.



That ain't a hill of beans.

[SocialDemocrat61]

55. All good things

Like I said, he was a reliable Democratic vote.

[Wiz Imp]

57. That's a hell of a lot more than just "a reliable Democratic vote"

[SocialDemocrat61]

61. They are all good things

and he was a reliable Democratic vote for them.

[True Dough]

59. None of which

you had acknowledged.

[SocialDemocrat61]

62. I never denied them

But forgive me for not knowing the entire legislative record of every single Senator who ever served.

[True Dough]

64. Well,

some people like to be informed before making a comment like "but Franken didn’t really accomplish much during his time in the senate."

The best posters on any forum own their mistakes and vow to be better.

[SocialDemocrat61]

65. He didn't

While they were all good things, they all seem rather minor. But he still was a reliable Democratic vote.

[True Dough]

66. Again,

very subjective! And I completely disagree with you (not that it's a first).

[SocialDemocrat61]

67. And you have the right to

disagree with me and anyone else as much as you like. I believe that is the purpose of a discussion board.

[catchnrelease]

5. Al Franken wasn't too shabby

[SocialDemocrat61]

7. He never passed much legislation

Other than asking Jeff Sessions some tough questions in one hearing, I can’t think of much that he accomplished in the Senate.

[KS Toronado]

12. Senator Al Franken was a leader his fellow elected Democrats looked up to

and you can't get much legislation passed with Rs in control always saying no.

[SocialDemocrat61]

13. His fellow democrats looked up to???

Then why did 39 of his fellow democrats call for him to resign so quickly?

[KS Toronado]

15. That was a shame on our party that they believed the shit Veritas Project was putting out.

And it all started with a photo of a comic attempting to be funny, followed by R lies.

[SocialDemocrat61]

16. Actually it was 7 or 8 women

including a democratic congressional staffer. And wasn't Project Veritas James O'Keefe's operation? Don't recall they had anything to do with Franken.

But I still never heard any fellow Senator or even a democratic member of the House ever say that they looked up to Fraken. But if I missed someone please point them out.

[KS Toronado]

21. Sorry I'm not going to allow anyone to waste my time

bashing an ex-Senator that the MAJORITY OF LIBERALS LOOKED UP TO. Have a nice day.

[SocialDemocrat61]

25. Not bashing anyone

if I said anything that is factual not the truth, please correct me. But if a majority of liberals looked up to Franken, why? Was it because of the progressive legislation that he got passed in the Senate or because he was a TV celebrity?

[EdmondDantes_]

56. Thanks for trying to point out the misinformation Franken supporters resort to is false

Not like we're currently dealing with the consequences of avoiding another person's sexual misconduct that could be avoided if we learned from ignoring a different man's poor behavior towards women. Trying to link all 8 women (including a Democratic staffer and women who told people in their lives at the time of the inappropriate touching) to Roger Stone (as you correctly noted it wasn't Project Veritas) is inaccurate.

[SocialDemocrat61]

63. I don't think anyone

is purposely pushing misinformation. I think most just don't know all the details.

[DFW]

6. After decades of informed, incisive political commentary

I’d bet that Colbert would do a FAR more credible job of representing the people of South Carolina in the Senate than anyone the Republicans would choose to replace Graham. For this reason alone, Colbert is already out of the question.

[SocialDemocrat61]

8. Howard Cosell was a great sportscaster for decades

doesn’t mean he would have been a good player.

[wolfie001]

20. What was the joke that made you so committedly anti-Colbert?

I mean, this would NEVER happen (Senate seat), but you really seem so invested? 🤔

[SocialDemocrat61]

22. Nothing against Colbert

Just not a fan of TV celebrities running for office.

[wolfie001]

33. OK. Cool

"Bam!"

[DFW]

23. He was also physically out of the question

Colbert is intellectually very much as capable of taking on the job of Senator, as was Al Franken. No one was asked to take Cosell seriously as a 60 year old line backer, which he never was. Al was taken very seriously as a 60 year old Senator.

This apples and oranges game is ridiculous.

Don’t tell me you think Tim Scott is doing a more credible job as Senator from South Carolina than Stephen Colbert would—not that Colbert has made the slightest move toward campaigning for the position (as in moving his residence back to South Carolina, for example), or that a Republican governor of South Carolina would appoint Colbert as a caretaker for the interim. Colbert is probably the most famous native of South Carolina alive at the moment. I’m sure that if he wanted to make political capital out of that, the moves would already be underway.

[SocialDemocrat61]

28. Never said anything about Scott

Any republican is worse than any democrat. But I’m sure there are many capable democratic elected officials in South Carolina to run for that seat who actually have experience working in government. Let republicans put up TV celebrities for office.

[ColoringFool]

17. Why not? I mean, I know why you're saying it (Trump), but the Lawyer....

Class has never been all that terrific.

[SocialDemocrat61]

18. Never said it has to be a lawyer

AOC isn't a lawyer. But she wasn't a TV celebrity either. We've had 2 celebrity Presidents and niether was good for the country. You would think we would learn are lesson already.

[MadameButterfly]

24. Republican presidents haven't been good for the country

since somewhere around/after Teddy Roosevelt. I wouldn't link it to celebrity status necessarily.

[SocialDemocrat61]

29. True

But democrats should put up qualified, experienced candidates. Leave the TV celebrities for the republicans.

[MadameButterfly]

38. Isn't it a moot point for SC where Dems won't have a say

in this appointment? WE have the Dem nominee already, right?

[SocialDemocrat61]

40. Yes, the primary was on June 9th

Dr. Annie Andrews won.
https://drannieandrews.com/
People should focus their energy on supporting her rather than wishing for a TV celebrity.

[MadameButterfly]

44. I'm kind of sorry she doesn't have Graham to run against

But maybe he isn't as poisonous to SC voters as he is to me. Still hard for me to imagine going after someone new who hasn't yet proven their incompetence and dishonesty.

[Submariner]

19. Just no more presidents with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame would take care of our problem

The two we've had, cut n' run Ronnie and the Pedo, both have 'Wag the Dog' wars in common to deflect the electorates view of their assholeness on the world stage.

Reagan got 241 Marines and Sailors killed in Beirut, so he invaded Grenada 3 days later and got 4 Navy SEALS killed among others for NOTHING. And that was 3 years before the traitor POTUS negotiated with terrorists, arms for hostages.

And wasn't Iran attacked just a week or so after that FBI Form 302 describing the POTUS's penis in the 13 years old girl who bit him and he threatened her.

No more Hollywood star assholes for president!

[SocialDemocrat61]

30. Or Governor or Senator.

[GPV]

42. This one is intelligent and human, though.

[NoRethugFriends]

58. Bull. It's the person, not the prvious job they had.

No idea why you are pushing this so hard.

[SocialDemocrat61]

60. No Idea why so many are pushing against it so hard

But I appreciate experience. Would you want someone performing surgery on if they had no experience? Would you seek legal help from someone with no legal training just because they were a good person? Would you hire a contractor to make changes to your house because they were famous? Being a Senator is a job like any other, it needs someone who has some experience of working in government even if it's just on the state or local level.

[GoCubsGo]

9. That's what I call "wishful thinking."

Gov. McMoron is one of the biggest Trump boot-lickers on the planet. No way he'd appoint ANY Democrat, let alone Stephen. Besides, that's not how it's done here.. There will be a special election, although at this point, they might as well leave it open, since the seat is open for election in November.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. I believe his sister ran for Representative, but lost to the former governor

Mark Sanford, the one who went "missing" on the Appalachian Trail...

[DFW]

31. I never met the current governor, who seems awful

In the meantime, I have met Mark Sanford several times, and actually like the guy. Our politics don’t have a lot in common, and we don’t discuss our love lives, obviously😆

[TVguyCards]

11. I'll bring up someone people here will know

and somehow has been forgotten about.

Sonny Bono.

[Retrograde]

50. Bono at least started off in local politics

running for and winning the position of mayor of the town where he lived. I didn't agree with much of his politics, and his voice was like fingernails on a chalk board, but he didn't try to start at the top.

Given that it's South Carolina, I'd expect someone like Nancy Mace to be named to fill the vacancy. Do they have to do the Republican primary for Senate all over again?

[Historic NY]

14. Bill Bradley, NY Knicks 3 term Senator NJ

[MadameButterfly]

27. and ran for president

[SocialDemocrat61]

34. And did his best to

trash Al Gore. How did that work out for the country?

[Polybius]

39. They were having a primary

Hillary vs. Obama 2008 was arguably nastier.

[SocialDemocrat61]

43. Bradley repeatedly lied about Gore

and his position on issues. The Bradley campaign was the source of the whole 'I invented the internet' controversy. Bradley's whole campaign strategy was to paint Gore as a habitual liar, which was then picked up by the Bush campaign.

[MadameButterfly]

41. I'm not familiar with the details of that primary campaign but

I'm not going to attribute trashing Al Gore to his celebrity status. And by the time he ran for president he was a qualified politician.

Al Gore himself had some celebrity because of his father. Though it means he was raised in politics, maybe extra-qualified.

[SocialDemocrat61]

45. Yes he was qualified

But he ran a dishonest campaign where his main strategy was to call Gore a liar.

[MadameButterfly]

47. I was in college and got my news from Newsweek magazine:-)

so what did I know then? My extended family is from Tennessee and long time fans of the Gores. Not liars, obviously, so that would have rankled me too.

[DFW]

36. Or John Glenn, the astronaut and then Senator from Ohio

I put Mark Kelly in a different category, as he would have been quite content to stay in the military and let Gabby be the Politician. He would never have run for anything without her encouragement to step in where she no longer could.

[Godot51]

26. McMaster...

... is a moron maga who'll probably appoint himself and run in the upcoming senate race as well.

[greatauntoftriplets]

32. Dr. Annie Andrews won the SC primary for senator.

[questionseverything]

49. It would be great if Colbert would do some rallies with her

Help her build name recognition and excitement!

[dlk]

48. I think Colbert is doing scriptwriting for the next Lord of the Rings film

More rewarding and safer for someone so outspoken, than serving in the Senate.

[Retrograde]

51. Is he a current resident of South Carolina?

I know the GOP has no problems supporting people from other states (I'm looking at you, Tuberville) but I don't think Colbert is a Republican.

[GoCubsGo]

68. Yes.

He has a home on Sullivan Island, outside of Charleston. Not sure if he considers it his primary residence, but that's where he usually headed when he was away from The Late Show. He still has family there, as well. His sister ran for Congress in that district a few years ago.