海角大神

Jon Stewart does not want to go to jail. This is understandable 鈥� the bagels in prison aren鈥檛 fresh, and Wi-Fi access is extremely limited.

So 鈥� as he explained on Tuesday night鈥檚 show 鈥� he is worried about his new position as head of Stephen Colbert鈥檚 super political-action committee. He鈥檚 happy with the money, of course, and the power, and so on. He鈥檚 thinking of buying himself one of Elizabeth Taylor鈥檚 tiaras. (We鈥檙e not making this up.) But he heard Mitt Romney say on 鈥淢orning Joe鈥� that he (Mitt) can鈥檛 coordinate with his own super PAC or he鈥檒l go the 鈥渂ig house.鈥�

鈥淲hich of your big houses do you go to? The beach house or the ski chalet?鈥� asked Mr. Stewart, before mugging it up in mock horror at finally getting Mr. Romney鈥檚 joke.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to go to jail! I need guidance! Stephen!鈥� said Stewart. Then Mr. Colbert himself walked out on stage and the audience exploded in glee.

Let鈥檚 back up for second here, shall we? For some time, Colbert has had a super PAC, a new kind of political money machine that鈥檚 allowed to accept unlimited amounts of money from private donors, and spend it on ads, or whatever, in support of its favorite candidates.

The only catch is that candidates themselves can鈥檛 run super PACs. If they did, donations would subject to low Federal Election Committee limits. And Colbert is now exploring the possibility of running for president of South Carolina. So he鈥檚 turned his super PAC over to Stewart. It鈥檚 now called the 鈥淒efinitely not coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC.鈥�

The point they鈥檙e making is that the line here is tissue-thin. The law says candidates cannot 鈥渃oordinate鈥� with super PACs. That means they cannot request, assent to, or suggest any super PAC activities.

But there is a loophole, or, as Colbert called it, a 鈥渓oop-chasm.鈥� A candidate can talk to his associated super PAC via the media. And the super PAC can listen, like everybody else.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you [what to do]. But I can tell everyone through television,鈥� said Colbert on Stewart鈥檚 Comedy Central Show. 鈥淎nd if you happen to be watching, I can鈥檛 prevent that.鈥�

Stewart then played a clip of Newt Gingrich calling on his super PAC to scrub ads attacking Mitt Romney for possible inaccuracies.

Stewart and Colbert then talked to elections lawyer Trevor Potter 鈥� who is the attorney for both Colbert鈥檚 exploratory committee and the super PAC 鈥� through the same phone. Stewart said he鈥檇 bought air time in South Carolina, and so on, and Colbert just said he couldn鈥檛 coordinate, but smiled or frowned, depending on which city the ad time was in. Columbia, no. Charleston, yes!

Is this all legal, or are these comedians pushing the legal envelope and in fact risking jail time?

Nope, amazing as it sounds, they鈥檙e doing everything right. Election law expert Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California-Irvine, on his blog linked to clips from the show, and posted but one additional word: 鈥渉ilarious.鈥�

So which of the GOP candidates stand to benefit most from super PAC money? So far the Romney-friendly 鈥淩estore Our Future鈥� super PAC has spent about $7.8 million on ads and other pro-Romney activities, according to an analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 far more than any other super PAC involved in the 2012 GOP presidential primaries,鈥� wrote analyst Michael Beckel on the group鈥檚 鈥淥pen Secrets鈥� blog.

The pro-Gingrich 鈥淲inning Our Future鈥� has spent about $4.2 million so far. Groups associated with the other candidates have all spent much less, according to CRP.