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Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, a marketing director at Clemson University and the sister of comedian-personality-entertainer Stephen Colbert, is running for Congress. She lives in South Carolina with her family and will be trying to fill Senator Tim Scott's recently vacated seat — indeed, the same seat sought by former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford. According to Patch reporter Shawn Drury, Colbert-Busch's entry will to be made official next week, but until then — and for many months after, probably — she'll have to navigate the widespread obsession with her brother, Stephen, of The Colbert Report. From Drury's report:
Stephen Colbert raised hundreds of thousands of dollars via his own Super PAC for his own faux political aspirations. Speculation is already rampant as to whether or not Colbert will ramp up the Super PAC for his sister or appear in SC1 on her behalf.
A Democratic official gushed to Buzzfeed about the money he could raise on her behalf: "Her brother mentions her once on his show and, what, that's a quarter of a million dollars right there." It's almost like famous brother is the one who's running!
Still, it's possible that such giddy speculation about campaign theatrics — "This race is going to be awesome"! — is misplaced. That's because Stephen Colbert is one name shared by two men: Stephen Colbert the devout Catholic and Sunday school teacher, and Stephen Colbert the aggressive court jester of Comedy Central. If he were to campaign for his sister, then, he'd either have to break character — which would defeat the purpose of his endorsement — or compromise the boundary between his two lives.