Colbert to Advertise in South Carolina COLUMBIA, S.C. - Real presidential candidates have real television ads. And now so does Stephen Colbert. The Comedy Central star and political satirist, who has been saying he is forming an "exploratory committee for president of the United States of South Carolina," will begin advertising in Charleston. The amount of money he is spending to run the commercials is small - just $7,600 on one television station so far, according to someone who monitors political ads. But it is just the kind of move that is guaranteed to keep Mr. Colbert in the headlines for a few days longer. On Thursday he made the grand gesture of handing control of his "super PAC" over to his friend and fellow Comedy Central host Jon Stewart. That move would ostensibly free him from potential legal problems that could arise should he actually run because federal law states that candidates are not allowed to coordinate with their super PACs. In a news release posted on its Web site, the PAC said, "With this change the group, which had been known colloquially as Colbert Super PAC, can now be referred to as The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. They have already begun updating all of their letterhead with sharpie. A recurring theme of his show "The Colbert Report" has been to mock the nation's campaign finance system. When he started his super PAC, he noted that the money it took in from donations would be used for "normal administrative expenses, including but not limited to, luxury hotel stays, private jet travel, and PAC mementos from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus." This is not the first time the group, known first as "Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" has bought time for television ads. It ran an ad in Iowa last summer that urged people to vote for "Rick Parry," not Rick Perry, the Texas governor. There was no word yet on what the newest ad would be. His publicist did not immediately return a call seeking comment. It is fitting that he would pick Charleston to run ads, since it is his hometown.