Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" has announced he is running for President. Even though it one grand exercise in performance satire, could his campaign still be subject to the campaign finance laws? Specifically, does the continued production and airing of his show by Comedy Central run afoul of campaign finance restrictions? Alison Hayward investigates.

UPDATE: Rick Hasen adds his thoughts at the Election Law Blog.

From the Skeptic's Eye:

Scene 12:

Camera pans across hearing room, as Stephen Colbert takes his seat at a witness table, reporters scurry as we hear a gavel.

LENHARD: Please, please everybody come to order. Mr. Colbert, you understand the allegations made about the funding of your candidacy. We here at the FEC want to know why we should turn a blind eye to the immense aggregations of wealth of Comedy Central . . . indeed of Viacom. In truthi . . .

COLBERT (shouting): Truthiness? You can't HANDLE the truthiness!

Bob Bauer comments on the short-lived Colbert campaign for President at More Soft Money Hard Law. His post begins:

So the South Carolina Democratic party has concluded that Stephen Colbert may not appear on the Democratic primary ballot. It did not think his candidacy was a laughing matter, and it thought this precisely because the Colbert candidacy was a laughing matter. Colbert could not be serious, hence not a serious candidate; and yet his candidacy was only viable—it really only made sense—if it was not taken seriously. And yet it was serious enough, this candidacy, that the federal campaign finance laws (and the Federal Communications laws) applied with full force and quite seriously.

Rick Hasen explains why Stephen Colbert's satirical candidacy, however funny, "raises some serious questions about the appropriate role of corporate money in the election process.