Stephen Colbert is one step closer to jumping into the 2012 presidential fray.

During Thursday's edition of The Colbert Report, the comedian transferred control of his super PAC to Jon Stewart, a fellow host at Comedy Central. This move gives him a legit legal opening to explore a presidential run.

He dropped the I'm "forming an exploratory committee" line, like many politicians before him who then went on to run for president. He added this will "lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the president of the United States of South Carolina!”

It's late in the game, but he's not doing so bad up against other Republican candidates who have been campaigning much longer, especially in his home state.

A recent PPP survey found Colbert leading Jon Huntsman in South Carolina with five percent of the vote compared to Huntsman's four percent.

Under election laws, it's illegal to run a super PAC and run for office. Candidates and those who run super PACs can't coordinate with other either.

Colbert previously tried to enter the South Carolina primary during the 2008 election cycle.

Mitt Romney's on a quest to convince Americans they are guilty of one of the seven deadly sins when they criticize Wall Street. In an interview with The Today Show, he suggested anyone who questioned the practices of financial institutions and the distrubution of wealth in this country is just plain old jealous.

Romney told NBC's Matt Lauer, "I think it's about envy. I think it's about class warfare."

The Republican frontrunner has been fending off attacks in recent days — from within the GOP — over his work at Bain Capital, a private equity firm where he made gazillions of dollars.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell had a lot to say about this in the latest Rewrite.

Many things can, and will, go wrong on live TV.

A satellite feed could be dropped for no apparent reason, sometimes leaving an anchor to fill the void. Another sign of "technical difficulties" is when you see a reporter, usually out on location in the field, talking but you can't hear what they're saying. One forgotten bleep in an edit session could lead to an accidental F-bomb on-air. (Guilty!) Maybe a mic is rubbing up against a guest's shirt — that's what makes that odd muffled sound.

Last night, we hit our own technical glitch with guest Steve Kornacki's microphone. It wasn't working properly so, unfortunately, the Salon.com political columnist wasn’t able to take part in the majority of the discussion on Ron Paul.

We were able to give him the floor after the show. In a web-exclusive interview with Lawrence, the pair chatted about Paul's relevancy as a candidate in the current Republican primary process and his long-term impact on political discourse. The set was being broken down around them, but they kept on talking.

Moneyed interests in all shapes and sizes are defending Mitt Romney against attacks on Bain Capital. And his rivals for the nomination are starting to kowtow, too. We are still finding out what this means for the 2012 presidential race but here are some links that might make you think. 

• Bain Capital and the gospel of "creative destruction"
• Republicans fret as internal fight rages over Romney's Bain career
• Why won't Romney release his tax returns?
• Warren Buffett challenges Republicans on taxes
• Map of companies lobbying around the country
• Blurring of the lines in the populist vs. capitalist debate
• Senator Jim DeMint predicts Romney will win South Carolina
• Rick Perry barely qualifies for upcoming debate
• Romney viewed affordable housing as a right, not privilege
• Meet the three billionaires who could drag out the GOP race
• First lady @MichelleObama joins Twitter

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell explains what strippers and Mitt Romney have in common. Plus, he actually praises Newt Gingrich. Watch for details.

After a lot of chatter (most of it bad if you're Willard M. Romney), the 28-minute movie documentary mockumentary video "King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town" has finally hit the Internets. You can see the whole thing here, and there's a promise by the group behind it that it will be on YouTube soon. If you live in South Carolina, you'll start seeing parts of it in political ads tomorrow on a television near you.

The Romney campaign is pushing back hard on all the Bain-based attacks against their candidate.

For now, we can offer here on our blog a 3-minute preview of the video. Bankrolling it is the pro-Gingrich PAC, Winning Our Future.

We all say and do silly things. The good thing for most of us, there aren't video cameras trained on us when they happen. If you're a politician that's not necessarily the case, and that's the idea behind Newt Gingrich's new anti-Romney ad which compiles several of Willard M. Romney's most cringe-worthy moments.

It even includes that story about the family dog. You know... the one about the Romney family putting it on a kennel on top of their car.

Chris Usher/CBS; Scott Kirkland/AP Photo

Mary Anne Huntsman (file); Kim Kardashian (file)

I am ashamed it took me almost a month to discover a connection between these two families. I like to think I keep pretty close tabs on the nexus of politics and pop culture in this great country of ours but alas — I have committed a gross oversight.

In the December 2011 issue of GQ, the magazine profiles the three 20-something daughters of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. The extremely likeable Mary Anne, Liddy and Abby Huntsman (also known in the Twitter-verse as @jon2012girls) have been their father's most outspoken supporters and rose to fame when they parodied Herman Cain's notorious smoking ad in October.

The GQ profile captures the energy and attraction of the Huntsman girls but buries the lede about these three young ladies. In the last paragraph, 23-year-old Liddy Huntsman tells the reporter that her older sister, Mary Anne, dated none other than former Mr. Kim Kardashian — KRIS HUMPHRIES! According to the article, the two went on one date when Humphries was on the Utah Jazz. They went to see the movie "Elf."

Now to many, this Mary Anne Huntsman-Kim Kardashian–Kris Humphries love triangle (I know they only went on one date, but work with me here) may not seem like a big deal. However, according to my research, Mary Anne Huntsman is still single and now, Humphries has returned to bachelor status. Can we say reunion?!

I can't imagine anything greater than Jon Huntsman staring into the camera on an E! wedding special and saying, "The Kardashian wedding won't have anything on this Huntsman bash. Kris Jenner, watch out." I know it will probably never happen. But hey, I would rather watch an episode of "Keeping Up With the Huntsmans" any day of the week.

As Willard M. Romney's campaign plows ahead toward the Republican nomination for president, little-known details on his personal background are popping up.

On the campaign trail, for instance, he'll gladly chat about his huge family. But what about his Mexican cousins? It's a branch he ignores in public.

NBC News correspondent Mike Taibbi filed a fascinating report on Rock Center with Brian Williams, profiling Romney's relatives who are Mexican citizens. In 1885, Romney's Mormon great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, fled from the United States to Mexico in order to escape prosecution for practicing polygamy. His own father was born there and went on to become the governor of Michigan — the quintessential poster boy for the Dream Act. About 40 cousins still live south of the border, and directly oppose cousin Willard on his own anti-Dream Act stance.

Earlier today, Romney's campaign released a new TV ad, en español, reaching out to Spanish-speaking voters in Florida.

Willard Romney handily beat his opponents in the New Hampshire primary last night. But here are some stories ensuring the Republican primary is not over just yet. 

• Last night's political lesson: nothing
• Five questions Willard still must answer
• Newt finally asks Willard: who let the dogs out?
• Romney releases Spanish-language ad in Florida
• Romney touts endorsement from author of racist AZ immigration bill
• Looks like Willard might have some trouble with the Latino vote
• Gingrich pulls back Bain punches while Perry does not
• Gingrich on war against Christianity and gay adoption
• Willard continues to accuse Americans of committing one of seven deadly sins: envy
• Maureen Dowd on the Mitt Romney doll
• Gingrich-allied attack film shows Romney as "ruthless" rich
• Haley Barbour pardons more than 200 as he leaves office
• House GOP file resolution criticizing recess picks while on recess
• First Lady: people try to paint me as "angry black woman"
• Elizabeth Warren raises $5.7 million in last quarter of 2011