Appalachian Trail hiker) is set to run against Elizabeth Colbert-Busch for his former and now vacant congressional seat. But if this clip from Morning Joe is any indication he's thinking more of defeating her famous younger brother.

MARK SANFORD: "She's not held office. Right now, the one thing people know about him [sic] is that she's Stephen Colbert's sister. Well, you know, at the end of the day, Stephen Colbert's a very popular, you know, well-regarded comedian, but at the end of the day he's not on the ticket. And we're going to have a debate about ideas, and I think that when people really begin to digest those ideas, some real strong contrasts in terms of where she would be versus where I would be, I think that will substantially change a poll that I think now simply defines name and ID as people know it, not issue ID. And I think ultimately debates in campaigns are decided on issues."

Yes, because the name "Colbert" provides an early unfair playing field advantage against someone who represented that congressional district for six years (1995-2001) and was the Governor of the state for another eight (2003-2011) in a deep red district that hasn't elected a Democrat in forty years. "At the end of the day," Mark Sanford sure has a lot of gall and is still a schmuck who feels entitled to the seat, but we knew that already.

South Carolina can do better. Elect Elizabeth Colbert-Busch.