South Carolina's own Stephen Colbert isn't looking too shabby in the polls. Public Policy Polling announced on Tuesday that more independent voters would vote for Colbert than President Obama if the comedian decided to run. With the support of 24 percent of the state's independent votes, Colbert is beating Obama's 22 percent but he's still trailing Republican frontrunner Rick Perry by three points. Colbert fans shouldn't get too excited though--his narrow lead falls apart when you include Republicans and Democrats. If he went head-to-head with Colbert and Obama, Perry would take 43 percent of the vote, a healthy lead over Obama's 36 percent and Colbert's 12 percent. Surprisingly, given that he trails nationally, Mitt Romney is even more popular than Rick Perry. PPP explains:

As long as the Republicans nominate one of their co-front runners, Mitt Romney or Rick Perry, they're likely to keep South Carolina in their column pretty easily next year. That's no surprise. What makes the Presidential numbers in the Palmetto State more interesting though is that despite Perry being the overwhelming favorite of Republican primary voters in the state, Romney actually does 7 points better than him against Barack Obama.

If the new numbers should ease the collective panic over Rick Perry, anxiety over Stephen Colbert actually being taken seriously should fill in the gaps.

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Adam Clark Estes