Can Colbert Super PAC Seriously Impact 2012 Elections?

The Colbert Super PAC can rake in the money now that Stephen Colbert won approval from the FEC to actually form it. But although the fake pundit's political action committee started off as a running gag on The Colbert Report, it is about to become a very real thing. It is one thing for it to be a satire on real life political action committees and their increasing impact on elections. Yet now that the joke has advanced to the next stage, what will be the punchline?

Luckily, Colbert gets to take off for the Fourth of July holiday, which gives him extra time to figure out the next step and his fans time to start sending more money. Soon after the FEC approved the organization, he moved the committee's official website to www.colbertsuperpac.com, where people could re-send their emails to join and send donations.

The fundraising power of the Colbert Nation is beyond reproach, having raised thousands for injured soldiers and classrooms across the country. For something this high profile, donors are bound to send in even more so their hero can carry out whatever he sees fit to influence the 2012 elections -- or pretend to influence them.

But even Colbert said/joked that he doesn't know what the Super PAC will do, at least until he gets unlimited money. The FEC did warn him that any ads he creates, for or against a candidate, can only run during The Colbert Report. So he may only use it to create ads that satirize those of real life PACs, just like any other comedy sketch.

The night before the FEC ruling, Colbert brought attention to a PAC ad against Democratic congressional candidate Janice Hahn, which had elements of racism and misogyny. He joked that he wanted to make ads like that, only "less responsible," since Super PAC commercials can say and feature anything, according to the Washington Post.

Of course, other PACs use ads like that in a much more serious manner, and can actually scare people into voting against a candidate like Hahn. To that end, satirizing that approach and exposing the fear tactics could turn the Colbert Super PAC into a public service for democracy.

But opponents warned that if the FEC gave its approval, it would actually create more loopholes for corporations to influence elections, especially after the Citizens United ruling gave them so many. Would that be worth giving PACs the usual Colbert comedic treatment?

It all depends on where things go from here, as even the host probably didn't envision that it could really go this far at the start. But now that it has, and now that the Super PAC is open for business and donations, the punchline may not be a strictly laughing matter over the next year and a half.

Sources

Colbert Super PAC

CBS News- "Colbert gets a Super PAC; So what are they?"

Washington Post- "FEC okays Stephen Colbert's super PAC"