I've had great admiration for Stephen Colbert since that press dinner when he mocked George Bush accurately and brilliantly. Now I have even greater respect.  With all this fluff-up over the sly bird, the arrogance, and Obama's switch from hope to distain, Colbert showed us the hearts and minds of the last three standing Democratic candidates.

Hillary was the great sport, willing to laugh at herself and play her competence. She's so prepared, and so capable, she's able to parody herself.

John is so caring for the poor, and so willing to laugh at himself, he makes a great spokesman for all of us.  Hope he's our new Attorney General and I hope his Elizabeth is Poverty Czar.  

Barack is so arrogant and and unpleasant, he took the first pot shot Stephen offered and looked down on all of us. He showed no humor, so he's clearly incapable of getting his own joke.

Colbert exposed all three, Hillary and John as funny and clear on their priorities, Barack as arrogant and lofty, without charm or real humor.  

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Rasmussen Reports has done some polling on three-way matchups including Stephen Colbert as a third party candidate. Lo and behold, at least according to the survey, Colbert pulls in strong numbers -- and doesn't seem to cost the Democrats much support (at least relative to the GOP). Take a look:

Over at Open Left Chris Bowers picks out an interesting tidbit from the poll: Republicans actually run third behind Clinton and Colbert among younger voters, a truly remarkable development. From Rasmussen's poll write up:

Colbert does particularly well with the younger voters most likely to be watching his show and therefore most aware of his myriad presidential-like qualities. In the match-up with Giuliani and Clinton, Colbert draws 28% of likely voters aged 18-29. He draws 31% of that cohort when his foes are Thompson and Clinton. In both match-ups, Colbert has more support with young voters than the GOP candidate.

In truth, I'm sure that these results are at least as indicative of the public's discomfort with the GOP at this point and their general openness to a third party candidacy as it is a reflection on Colbert in particular. Nevertheless, that Colbert's (at least seemingly) sarcastic presidential bid draws so much support and drags named Republican candidates down into the mid-30s -- and into third place among younger voters -- speaks to a real weakness of the GOP today.

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