Would the real Colbert campaign killer please stand up?

Who is the fearless team that was afraid of a comedian?

Well, during the last day or so behind the scenes, the Clinton folks, who play hardball, have been shopping around to some writers (not this one) a story idea that a couple of prominent Obama supporters had lobbied the South Carolina Democratic Party's executive council last week to keep Stephen Colbert off the state's primary ballot, which they succeeded in doing.

When you think about it, that's probably a good idea. Colbert, a funny fellow who plays a political talk show host on his Comedy Central show, got Doritos to sponsor his candidacy and claimed to be showing the fundamental hypocrisy of the political system by trying to run in both parties' primaries.

He's good for a laugh, and normally serious Tim Russert even had him on the normally respectable "Meet the Press," for a faux serious candidate interview. The "truthiness," as usual these days, is that Colbert's "campaign" provided priceless free publicity for his TV program and new book.

The Clinton folks may also have wanted Colbert off the ballot too, because each vote for...

the comedian is one less for the real politicians. More likely, Clinton leads in South Carolina polls and Obama needs more votes to catch her. And polls indicate he appeals to roughly the same younger, college-educated crowd as Colbert does. So his operatives lobbied against the distracting Colbert candidacy.

So with this update to the previous post about Obama sinking the SS Colbert, I again ask is this petty or practical? Could be both.