Nikki Haley to appoint comedy show host Stephen Colbert to her state's open U.S. Senate seat hasn't gone unnoticed by the Palmetto State Republican, who pointed out one hangup on her Facebook Friday. But almost as soon as Scott's name popped up, another South Carolina native was roped in: Stephen Colbert. But Colbert didn't exactly run away from the encouragement. Colbert is a comedian, but he does dabble in real politics — he appeared before Congress to testify about campaign finance, and he's appeared at a fake rally in South Carolina with real presidential hopeful Herman Cain. "There's one problem, though: Colbert can't actually serve in the Senate."
– Who could take over Jim DeMint's Senate seat at the end of the year? Conservatives are talking Rep. Tim Scott, but another South Carolinian has thrown his rather high-profile hat into the ring: one Stephen Colbert, reports the New York Post. Colbert dedicated a segment of his show last night to less-than-subtly suggesting himself, and encouraged his 4 million followers to tell Gov. Nikki Haley to pick him, noting, "I wouldn't just block legislation, I'd bodycheck it!" “Stephen is honored by the groundswell of support from the Palmetto State and looks forward to Governor Haley’s call,” says a Colbert publicist. Sure, Colbert would face a lot of resistance from more, uh, enthusiastic Republicans—Madeleine Morgenstern, for example, called Colbert a "bombastic, faux-conservative," notes the Week. But Colbert is a strong Catholic who loves Richard Nixon, says the Atlantic, which proclaims him "vastly overqualified." Even so, he shouldn't hold his breath: Nikki Haley swung back via Facebook today, reports CNN: "Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina's US Senate seat and for the thousands of tweets you and your fans sent me," she said. But: "You forget one thing, my friend. You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake." Got milk, Stephen? Here's the exchange.