Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Barack Obama, and... Stephen Colbert?

As if the Republican Primary process wasn’t a big enough joke already, after a recent poll showed him beating Jon Huntsman in the South Carolina Primary, it looks like Stephen Colbert may be throwing his hat in the ring.

According to Public Policy Polling (PPP), Colbert is currently garnering 5% of the South Carolina vote for the Republican Primary -- just edging out Huntsman’s 4%. This doesn’t bode well for Huntsman (also known as “The Other Mormon Candidate” or more accurately “The Most Reasonable Republican Running”), but it has provided some fun plot points in the new season of the hit reality TV series “American Politics.”

Whether Colbert will actually run, or even be allowed to do so (he’s long since missed the November 1st filing date) remains to be seen, but what is clear from the whole debacle is how much trouble Huntsman is in, which is particularly unfortunate for, well, everyone. Alongside Mitt Romney, Huntsman represents the best hope the Republican Party has to actually beat Obama in a General Election, and if he’s polling below someone who is basically a fake person, his chances don’t seem great.

Like it or not, Obama, the president of Hope and Change and Yes We Can has been the most anti-business president in our history. He spent the first half of his term completely ignoring the obviously broken economy, instead focusing on Obamacare, financial reform, and coming up with new one-liners that might trick people into voting for him again. Then, when he finally got around to acknowledging the huge deficit, monumental unemployment rate, and general lack of investment in the US, he basically just said to the business community “you’re evil if you don’t want to pay my insanely high taxes and instead invest your money (totally legally) off-shore.” Shockingly, that didn’t jumpstart the economy.

Which brings us to where we are today. We have a president who neither trusts nor is trusted by the business community. Our economy is still fucked. And one of the only two people that could beat Obama, is losing to a comedian.

With Huntsman effectively out of the race, here’s hoping that Romney gets the Republican nomination, the Obamaphiles don’t pull the wool over America’s eyes once again, and this time next year Obama will be issuing last-minute pardons while Romney dusts off his tux for the Inauguration Ball.