A presidential candidate who really stands out from the rest

The list of candidates for president includes a woman, an African-American, and a Mexican-American on the Democratic side, and a crossdressing control-freak currently on his third wife trying to convince the conservatives of the Republican party that he's their man. Oh, yes, there's also an actor auditioning for the role of Reagan II. In this crowded field of unconventional office seekers it's pretty hard to really stand out. But now we have a candidate who I think can outdistance all the rest: Stephen Colbert.

It's been quite a while since we had a comedian run for president. At least an intentional one. But I fondly remember Pat Paulsen's run in 1968. My favorite line of his concerned equal rights for women: "It is wrong to discriminate against someone because of the shape of her skin."