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Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

From an editorial in The Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.) on Stephen Colbert's impact:

If you replied, "Stephen Who?" when you learned that Stephen Colbert is running for president, just wait. Following in the footsteps of other famous comic candidates - Paulsen, Pogo, Perot - he can make a difference.

Colbert, for those who have not watched "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, often asks better questions and gets more telling answers from today's political leaders than the Washington press corps.

Entertainers are no strangers on the road to the White House or the statehouse, and television is where they start working to change perceptions. Who thought that Arnold Schwarzenegger could become governor of California or that anybody would announce the start of a serious political campaign on "The Tonight Show"? ...

Many young people say they get their news from fake news shows such as Colbert's and the show where he started, "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. While it is far-fetched to say that any candidate should worry that Colbert will siphon enough votes away to have a Naderish effect on the 2008 election, what he can do is sharpen the debate and do the job that the press rarely dares to do ...

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