IS LOU DOBBS RUNNING? DON'T BELIEVE IT.

Politics is so disheartening that I almost hope this is true, just for the sheer absurdity of it -- though I'm skeptical, as I'll explain below:

...John Fund reports that friends of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs "say he is seriously contemplating" a presidential bid, "although it's still unlikely."

"They spin a scenario under which the acerbic commentator would parachute into the race if Michael Bloomberg, the New York billionaire and favorite of East Coast elites, enters the field as an independent. With Hillary Clinton continuing to score badly in polls in the categories of honesty and integrity, and with the public's many doubts about Rudy Giuliani and other GOP contenders, Mr. Bloomberg may well see an opportunity to roil the political waters by entering the race late. If so, Mr. Dobbs then sees a niche for a 'fourth-party' candidate who could paint the three other contenders as completely out of touch."

Oh, what the hell, why not? Let's have a six-way race -- Clinton/Giuliani/Bloomberg/Dobbs/Paul/Nader. So what if, theoretically, the top vote-getter could win less than 20% of the vote? Presidents with actual mandates from the voters are so previous centuries.

I don't believe the Dobbs rumor, though, and here's why. Remember when Stephen Colbert put out a book -- and announced he was running for president a week later? It was a stunt, right, by a guy who makes fun of politics, meant (among other things) to get him publicity and sell some books? Well, it just so happens that Dobbs just put out a book, er, a week ago. As is so often the case in politics, life imitates satire.

Oh, the Dobbs book just so happens to be called Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit. And, by astonishing coincidence, the fuel for speculation about his candidacy is a post on his Web site that says in part,

I believe the person elected a year from now will be an Independent populist, a man or woman who understands the genius of this country lies in the hearts and minds of its people and not in the prerogatives and power of its elites.

That's not a prediction -- that's an attempt to draw attention to his book. And so is the rumor about his candidacy.

At least Colbert's candidacy was funny.