Stephen Colbert 2008 presidential campaign  On October 16, 2007, satirist Stephen Colbert (in the guise of his character) officially announced that he would run for President of the United States. This came after weeks of being pressured to do so by the public and stating that he would need a sign, which came from Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) giving him the sword Anduril. Although the legitimacy of his campaign was questioned, he maintained that he was serious. Colbert had originally planned to run for both the Republican and the Democratic nomination in his home state of South Carolina. After learning that the fee to file for the Republican primary was $35,000, he abandoned plans to run as a Republican (he had previously stated that he could avoid FEC rules if he stayed under $5,000 in campaign expenditure). Although he paid the $2,500 fee to be included in the South Carolina Democratic ballot, he was denied a place on the ballot by the South Carolina Democratic Party executive council. On November 5, 2007, Colbert officially dropped his presidential bid. In the week prior to announcing his candidacy, Colbert appeared on a number of talk shows to promote his book "I Am America (And So Can You)". During these interviews, he parodied potential candidates' standard approach to a White House run, giving broad and generally unprompted hints towards a campaign on shows like "Larry King Live". "A lot of people see this book as testing the waters for a run for political office," he told King in an October 14, 2007 interview. On the same day, Colbert took over "The New York Times" opinion columnist Maureen Dowd's column, which he used to engage in similar speculation: "I know why you want me to run, and I hear your clamor ... Nevertheless, I am not ready to announce yet – even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative." The campaign began in earnest on October 16, 2007, when Colbert officially announced his candidacy on his own 11:30 pm–12:00 am EST Comedy Central program, "The Colbert Report". Colbert had earlier appeared on "The Daily Show", the program immediately preceding his own on the Comedy Central lineup, but had stated that his final declaration of candidacy would be made on a "more prestigious show". Subsequent to his declaration, Colbert appeared on "Meet the Press" on October 21, 2007, where he asserted the reality of his campaign: "I'm far realer than Sam Brownback, let me put it that way," said Colbert.