Obama Camp Killed the Colbert Candidacy?

Seen at CNN:

Two prominent supporters of Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in South Carolina called state Democratic Party officials urging them to oppose putting comedian Stephen Colbert’s name on the primary ballot, according to party officials and Obama supporters with knowledge of the calls.

The Obama campaign folks involved say that they were just trying to feel out the powers-that-be for what their likely decision would be in allowing Colbert on the ballot.

Although the campaign workers were presumably understandably concerned about Colbert “stealing” Obama voters, due to the presumed overlap in supporters, I think that seeking to keep Colbert off the ballot may have been a strategic error.

After all, having Colbert on the ballot would likely have increased turnout in South Carolina. I’d bet that most of the folks who would have voted for Colbert are folks who won’t turn out for the conventional slate of candidates.

I’d also bet that a non-trivial portion of Colbert-inspired voters would have opted to vote for a real candidate…and that would most likely have benefited Obama.

Throw in the bad press….and this definitely seems like bad strategery to me.