Colbert’s super PAC released an ad this week urging South Carolinians to vote for Cain. Colbert's 'South Cain-olina' rally

Stephen Colbert will join forces with former candidate Herman Cain in South Carolina on Friday, hosting an event called “The Rock Me Like a Herman Cain: South Cain-olina Primary Rally.”

“There will be speeches, there will be cheerleaders, there will be a marching band and a gospel band — this is going to be even better than my rally in D.C. For starters, Jon Stewart won’t be there, and I promise not to wear something that shows off so much of my swing voters,” Colbert said on his show on Wednesday night in reference to the skin-tight costume he wore to the D.C. rally last year.


Colbert, whose super PAC released an ad this week urging South Carolinians to vote for Cain, reminded his fans why he has chosen to back Cain.

“There is one candidate out there who has not run a single negative ad. Herman Cain,” he said. “A man who shares my values. That’s why I’ve said a vote for Herman Cain in this Saturday’s primary will be a strong message to me that voters want me to run.”

The comedian also keeps seeing signs that Americans would like the comedian to run for president, including new poll numbers that show his favorability rating topping all the other GOP candidates.

“Clearly, Romney is vulnerable, and Gingrich is right. We conservatives need a single candidate who has an appeal on a national level,” he said on the show, before examining the results of a survey released by Public Policy Polling this week.

The favorability ratings for the Republican candidates were as follows: 26 percent for Newt Gingrich, 27 percent for Ron Paul, 30 percent for Rick Santorum and 35 percent for Mitt Romney.

“So folks, I guess Romney’s going to be the guy who — wait a second, wait. Who is that up at the top of the poll with a 36 percent favorability rating? Stephen Colbert!” he yelled to enthusiastic cheers from the audience. “Folks! Thirty-six percent! Thirty-six percent! That’s more than half!

“So I say tonight to you my fellow Americans: To end the division in the Republican Party, I now call on all the candidates to drop out of the race,” he continued. “To be clear, I’m not a candidate, but if all the other candidates did get out, I would see that as a strong indication that I should jump in the pool, after you know, they shock it with chlorine. Because based on his poll numbers, I’m pretty sure Rick Perry dropped a turd in there.”

Colbert, who took credit for Jon Huntsman dropping out of the race earlier this week, may have a slightly higher favorability rating than Romney, but there is little to show that he would be serious competition against the GOP front-runner and President Barack Obama.

The PPP poll also showed that if the candidates for president this year were Obama, Romney and Colbert running as an independent, the comic would only receive 13 percent of the votes, compared to Obama’s 41 percent and Romney’s 38 percent.