On Oct. 16, Comedy Central comedian Stephen Colbert used his nightly television show to announce that he was running for President of the United States and would file to get on both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina. The campaign was cut short on Nov. 1 when the South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 13-3 to reject his application to get on the ballot. Colbert did not file to run as a Republican because of the party's $35,000 filing fee. The short-lived campaign gave both Colbert and election law experts a chance to examine the ins and outs of federal election law, with Colbert winning the laughs. Colbert is the first comedian to seek the presidency since Pat Paulsen ran in 1968, before passage of the Federal Election Campaign Act. Soon after Colbert's announcement, election law bloggers and news outlets began speculating whether Colbert's use of his television show to promote his campaign violated federal campaign finance laws, which prohibit corporate contributions to campaigns. The Comedy Central and Colbert Report sponsor Doritos (made by Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, Inc.) could both have arguably been sanctioned for illegal contributions. Colbert separated his South Carolina petition drive from Comedy Central by running it through a barebones Colbert Campaign website. He then consulted the law firm Wiley Rein and showed his audience a copy of their letter, which warned him not to use corporate funds or sponsorship "to directly fund campaign activities." Colbert then said, "In accepting corporate money, I promise to respect federal election laws the same way I respect the must-shower-before-swimming law at the Y…. As a candidate, I am under no obligation to promote the zesty, robust taste of Doritos brand tortilla chips, regardless of how great a snack they may be for lunchtime, munch time, anytime." To ensure compliance with the law, he said Doritos would not sponsor his campaign, just the coverage, which the show called "The Stephen Colbert, Hail to the Cheese, Nacho Cheese Doritos 2008 Presidential Campaign COVERAGE." This did not satisfy the experts and commentators, who speculated that Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, could still face sanctions from the Federal Election Commission for using its corporate facilities to promote the Colbert campaign on the show. This would be considered an in-kind contribution, unless the campaign itself qualifies for the exemption for news stories, editorials or commentary. It is not clear how comedy and entertainment would fit into that exemption. Slate reported that NBC had already taken the cautious approach by stopping Law & Order reruns starring actor and Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. Colbert's television show and his announced candidacy demonstrated the intersection of humor and election law. On one episode, Colbert had Center for Responsive Politics' Massie Ritsch on to discuss how Colbert could skirt the campaign contribution limits. The humor highlighted interesting ways to skirt those limits. Even though the Los Angeles Times reported a Republican poll in South Carolina that showed Colbert had the support of 2.3 percent of the voters, the state Democratic Executive Committee voted Nov. 1 to deny him access to the ballot because he failed to show he was a nationally viable candidate. Carol Fowler, the state party chairwoman, told CNNPolitics.com, "He does not appear to be campaigning to win if he is only running in one state." Colbert did meet South Carolina's other ballot criteria by spending the last weekend in October campaigning in the state, receiving the key to the city from Columbia mayor Bob Coble at a well attended rally. Videos of these events are all available on the Comedy Central website. On Nov. 5, Colbert announced he was officially dropping his campaign. However, he is encouraging supporters to give to South Carolina schools through donorschoose.org. So far, the campaign has raised $51,938 toward its $100,000 goal. Colbert's announcement ending his campaign also promotes the upcoming release of the Best of the Colbert Report DVD.