A lot of politicians are scheduled to show up on the first few weeks of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, but in a surprising move for a politician to make, one of them is taking advantage of the show to promote their own agenda. All right, that’s not really surprising, but the identity of the politician doing this is actually unexpected: Jeb Bush, the guy from that famous family. Oh, that’s not surprising either? Well, whatever.
As we’ve previously reported, Jeb Bush is set to be one of the guests on Colbert’s first episode, but apparently that honor wasn’t enough for him. According to Deadline, he also wants to guarantee that he has at least one supporter in the audience by raffling off a ticket to the show. Bush reportedly sent out an e-mail this week saying that everyone who donates at least $3 to his campaign will have a chance to win a trip to New York, a ticket to the taping, and an opportunity to have dinner with him and one of his rich buddies.
However, Bush didn’t actually run any of this by Colbert, who released a video today announcing a raffle of his own. Like the Bush raffle, it costs $3 to enter, but instead of pocketing the money he’s donating it to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. The winner of Colbert’s raffle will also get a ticket to see the taping of the show, and they’ll get a chance to come up with one “non-obscene” question that Colbert can ask Bush. His suggestion: “Don’t you wish you’d consulted Stephen before you launched your contest?” You can enter to win Colbert’s raffle and/or donate at this link.
The tone of Colbert’s video is just as jokey as usual, but it’s good to see him bare the satirical teeth that the “Stephen Colbert” character was so skilled with. Maybe this means Colbert’s Late Show won’t be so different from The Colbert Report after all? We’ll finally find out when the show premieres on September 8.