Stephen Colbert is a master of pointed satire, but it's easy to lose track of the central point in all his showmanship.

Lest we forget, there IS a TV personality seriously running for president, who announced his candidacy on a comedy talk show on the same network that carried his own program.

By running his fiercely ignorant, populist, right-wing TV persona in the race Colbert satires the right wing preference for an unqualified everyman, and suspicion of education, experience and intelligence. Look at their criticisms of not just Gore or Kerry, but also Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, McGovern, all the way back to Adlai Stevenson!

What makes this satire so sad is that there is just such a person actually running! Apparently, Democrats know running a TV personality is a joke, Republicans take it seriously.