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Originally Posted by glatt
If Colbert actually runs for president (even as a joke) doesn't that mean they have to drop his show or grant the other candidates equal coverage? Or is cable exempt from that law?
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Most cable is in theory exempt, but no one's ever pushed the issue for the courts to rule one way or the other. From
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But what about cable? The equal opportunities rules are, by their terms, applicable to "local origination cablecasting." But what does that mean? Are cable networks like TNT, which broadcast Law and Order episodes, covered? While many cable networks take the position that they are not covered by the rules, they nevertheless tend to take off programming which could trigger the rules and force a test case of how far the rules do extend. For instance, when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor of California, Terminator movies were nowhere to be seen.
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Realistically, Comedy Central will be just fine. A lot of people still consider the whole thing a joke, and no one expects him to win one way or the other.
The really interesting thing is what it's exposed about the way the two parties work. For instance, to get on the primary ballot in SC as a Republican, there's a mandatory $25,000 fee. For the Democratic primary, the fee is only $2,500
or 3000 signatures from SC residents. Also, a Republican candidate has to win a plurality in a given district to actually have any delegates at the Rep. National Convention, whereas the Democratic candidates spread their delegates by more direct voting percentages, meaning he only has to get 15% of the vote in any particular district in order to take a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. But the Democrats have said he may not run as a Dem if he's also running as a Rep, while the Reps don't seem to have such a rule.