Colbert Super PAC
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| Motto | Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow |
|---|---|
| Formation | September 9, 2011 |
| Extinction | 2012 |
| Legal status | 501(c)(4) |
| Purpose | Political action committee |
| Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart (President pro tempore) | |
| Website | ColbertSuperPAC.com |
Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow (better known as the Colbert Super PAC) was a United States political action committee (PAC) established by Stephen Colbert, who portrayed Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, a mock-conservative political pundit on Comedy Central's satirical television series The Colbert Report. As a super PAC the organization could raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions and other groups, as well as wealthy individuals. Speaking in character, Colbert said the money would be raised not only for political ads, but also "normal administrative expenses, including but not limited to, luxury hotel stays, private jet travel, and PAC mementos from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus."
Colbert Super PAC reported raising over $1.02 million in their January 2012 filing with the Federal Election Commission. Colbert has been credited with increasing awareness of Super PACs through his late night television show. In April 2012, Colbert received a Peabody Award for his show's series of parody reporting about his Super PAC as an "innovative means of teaching American viewers about the landmark court decision". On November 12, 2012, Colbert announced his intention to dissolve Colbert Super PAC, citing the death of his fictional advisor Ham Rove. On December 13, 2012, Colbert announced that he was not required to say where the entire balance of the Super PAC's funds ($773,704.83) had gone. Immediately following this, however he stated that a group called "The Ham Rove Memorial Foundation" had received an anonymous donation of $773,704.83, which it will use to support various charities.
On March 10, 2011, during a segment on 2012 presidential contender Tim Pawlenty's political action committee (PAC), Colbert announced the formation of his own PAC. Parodying a Pawlenty advertisement, Colbert chose to end his ad with a card saying "ColbertPAC", mocking Pawlenty's PAC. In response, an executive from Comedy Central asked Colbert if he was serious about founding a PAC, because it could create "trouble" for the network. Colbert saw the value in creating a PAC to showcase the impact of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, in which the Supreme Court held that corporations have free-speech rights to spend unlimited amounts of money in political advertising to elect or defeat candidates for office.
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