Although the road to the White House -- via the Palmetto State -- reached a dead end for FishbowlNY frenemy Stephen Colbert, the talk show host still, apparently, wields what can only be properly construed as ''juice (a small closing cough of feigned detachment).''
Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a ''Colbert Bump.'' For Democrats, at least. From The Los Angeles Times via The Opinionator:

''So what did I find? As it turns out, the Republican candidates who appear on the show don't fare any better -- if anything they might actually do a little worse than their fellow Republicans who stayed home. However, Democratic candidates who appear on 'The Report' receive 44% more money than those who do not in the first month after their appearance. We no longer have to rely on the gut or Wikipedia -- the evidence speaks for itself.

''House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wouldn't recommend anyone go on 'The Colbert Report,' but these results show that Democrats who ignored her advice probably did themselves a favor. For Democrats, the 'Colbert bump' is financially measurable, and it may be just what they need to keep control of the Congress in 2008.''

The author of the Op-Ed, James H. Fowler, is associate professor of political science at UC San Diego.

(image via rollingstone)