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Last week, I said that Stephen Colbert was the one candidate I could support to replace reting wingnut South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. It seems the voters there agree: Colbert is top pick to replace DeMint:

Talk-show host Stephen Colbert is South Carolina voters' preferred candidate to replace Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), according to a new poll by the Democratic Public Policy Polling.

The Comedy Central host, who's openly lobbied for the seat, leads a field where the rest of the names are Republicans: 20 percent of voters want South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to appoint him to DeMint's seat when the senator resigns from Congress.

Haley has publicly ruled him out, however, because he didn't know the official state drink is milk.

"Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina's U.S. Senate seat and for the thousands of tweets you and your fans sent me," she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday. "But you forget one thing, my friend. You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake." Read on...

UPDATE: To no one's surprise, Colbert responded to the Governor's rejection on his show this Monday evening and Stephen and his Super PAC money are determined not to give up. After some ribbing about Haley not knowing that South Carolina's state amphibian is the spotted salamander, Colbert urged his viewers to continue to tweet Haley with the hashtag #spottedsalamander and ask her to name him as DeMint's replacement.

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Now here's a potential Senator from South Carolina I could support: Stephen Colbert to America: I'm "Honored" and Ready to Serve in the US Senate:

Stephen Colbert has his opening. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), the tea party icon, announced Thursday that he will retire from the US Senate in January, leaving Republican Gov. Nikki Haley the task of handpicking DeMint's immediate successor. A Colbert for Senate Twitter account, @ColbertforSC, sprung up almost immediately, and fans have called for Colbert, the author of such classics as I Am America (And So Can You!) and America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, to replace DeMint in the hallowed halls of Congress.

Brace yourselves, Colbert Report fans: Colbert, who has made no secret of his desire to hold higher office, says through his publicist that he's ready and willing to step up for his home state. "Stephen is honored by the groundswell of support from the Palmetto State and looks forward to Governor Haley's call," his personal publicist, Carrie Byalick, writes in an email to Mother Jones.

Colbert asked his viewers this Thursday evening to tweet @nikkihaley with the hashtag #SenatorColbert and let her know why she should appoint him to replace wingnut Sen. Jim DeMint. It sure would be nice if he were serious, but I can't imagine Colbert wanting to actually subject himself to the putting up with the idiocy he mocks on a daily basis.

And if anyone wasn't sure what was up with the foot, it's "Hobbit Week" on the Colbert Report.