Will Colbert sister block Sanford comeback?

>>> not sure, i can support her, she is running as a democrat. leading for the former governor of the trail, mark sanford . see, i'm for family values , and mark, he just seems so steady.

>> in the spotlight tonight, south carolina 's special election to fill an empty congressional seat, democratic election, elizabeth colbert , sister of steven colbert , will finally settle the question of how her family's name should be pronounced. when she wins the democratic primary as she is sure to do after getting the last word in the polls, elizabeth colbert busch will likely face former governor sanford , who is the frontrunner in the republican party . the former governor who lied about hiking the appalachian trail when in fact he was off on a fling in south america with his mistress, was with his girlfriend, with the ad.

>> while many have talked, i have fought to do something, cut spending, reduced debt and made government more accountable. more recently, i have experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes. but in their wake we can learn a lot about grace, a god of second chances and be the better for it. in that light, i humbly step forward and ask for your vote. i'm mark sanford and approve this message.

>> mark sanford 's position in the hall of fame is already assured because of this, this 2009 press conference.

>> i have been unfaithful to my wife. i developed a relationship with a -- started as a dear, dear friend from argentina. it began very innocently as i suspect these things do. in just a casual e-mail back and forth, in advice on one's life there, and advice here. but here, recently over the last year it developed into something much more than that.

>> this is a whole lot more than a simple affair. this is a love story . a forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day .

>> ryan grim, if i was writing this movie, i'm just not sure who wins this special election . that was -- that was the greatest press conference in the history of political adultery, and i mean it. because he is the only politician who decided in moment one, in press conference one. what about the truth? what if i just actually tell the truth, and oh, by the way, i'm in love with her and this is very serious stuff?

>> you would cast robin williams for that, and it would be one of his 25-minute speeches where he moves everybody. now, i don't know if there is a god of second chances. there is definitely a god of south carolina politics , because he has answered our prayers. we're the ones -- i mean, this is just going to be such a fun race, you have the story of redemption, even have teddy turner 's son thrown in this. and elizabeth colbert busch , she spells it wrong.

>> she will be here this week. we will be sizing her, she will get the last word, bump, this week, so the polls will be different. a tricky thing about this district, sanford 's favorability, a 30% favorability, a 53% unfavor unfavorability, the trouble is, mitt romney won against obama. so elizabeth colbert busch , with the name, democrat, beside her name is probably worse than having the word " colbert " behind her name.

>> she will need all the fundraising prowess of her brother, and all the super pac that can be generated. there is a more republican population, a lot of folks coming from the north, who are fiscally conservative , but don't share that evangelical fervor, on the other hand, a lot of them share that forgiveness.

>> christianity is all about being forgiven for your sins.

>> so we're writing off a lot of votes that we should not.

>> i mean, that is the math, john mccain fit in that district, president obama , 42, but mitt romney , 58, barack obama , 40, that seems to me that it makes it a referendum on sanford . if those republican voters there can find him acceptable, then it is his. and if they can't, that would be the only chance for the democrat to win.

>> right, with maybe some surreal combination of just grass roots , like energy created by steven colbert that we don't even know exists. it may be a sense of his power, but maybe he has way more on the ground than we can ever imagine. there will be buses of colbert backers.

>> the colbert , colbert family power. we'll find out about it. ryan grim, thank you for joining us tonight.