For those who thought Herman Cain was out of the presidential race, well, last night on "The Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert proved you wrong. Armed with an attack ad from the Cain Connections Super PAC, Colbert (who considers Cain his "brother from another mother") was happy to share the find with his audience.

PETA members might want to sit down before watching it. Cain's anti-stimulus ad, released a few days ago, features a flopping, gasping goldfish presided over by an unsmiling child mouthing "this is your brain on drugs"-esque lines while standing in a barren wasteland. The goldfish? Well, that's the floundering U.S. economy. The Cain camp posted on its YouTube description a disclaimer that suggests no actual goldfish were harmed in making the film: "The goldfish is fine, but our economy isn't."

In case that was too subtle, the spot ends with a man -- Colbert suggests that it's Cain -- standing on a mountaintop a la "The Lion King" -- and in the background a pig oinks. "Any questions?" the little girl shouts.

"Nope!" said Colbert, who was so inspired by this visual delight that he decided to make an "avant-garde" (as Cain's ad was described in pundit clips) ad of his own, after downing a bottle of Robitussin and punching himself in the temple with a porcelain cow creamer. What ensued was a hilarious parody of Cain’s spot, which Colbert said was about "all of the things we forgot we used to be mad about.”

"Ball's in your court, Herman Cain!" he cried out once it was over.

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Say it ain't so, Stephen!

Monday night on "The Colbert Report," it was all about the weekend events. In South Carolina, Newt Gingrich emerged as the man of the hour (or rather, of the week) coming out on top in the South Carolina primaries after "feasting on the flesh" of CNN's Jon King when asked about his marital woes.

But that's not the sad part.  

Colbert later showed highlights from the "Rock Me Like A Herman Cain" Rally on Friday, in which special guest Herman Cain broke out in song -- a Pokémon song, to be exact.

That wasn't it either. The sad part came when Colbert made a major announcement. With a heavy heart and a spastic colon he announced that he would be re-suspending Herman Cain's suspended campaign, and officially ending his exploratory committee to run for President of the United States of South Carolina.

The people of South Carolina spoke. The Colbert/Cain team couldn't rally enough votes to rattle any of the current GOPers' campaigns, despite the decent fifth place finish in the primary.

Colbert went on to thank his committee members -- NBC's own Chuck Todd, Will Smith as Bagger Vance, "Criss Angel: Mind Freak," and affectionately -- his roll of quarters for the laundry he hasn't done in a month or so.     

The announcement begged the question -- what will Colbert do now? Take back the Super PAC, of course!    

Unfortunately, it appears Jon Stewart has gone rogue.

Stewart sent this note to The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC supporters, via The Huffington Post:

Dear Super PAC Super People,

Hey, it's Jon again. As you know, a while back, I took over this Super PAC so that my friend and business partner Stephen Colbert could explore possibly running for President of the United States of America of South Carolina (maybe).

Unfortunately, he never connected with voters, despite nearly a week of part-time campaigning, culminating in a massive rally at the College of Charleston.

Now, Stephen's exploratory phase is over. And like most exploratory phases, it was strange, awkward, and ended not long after he left campus.

Today he asked me if he if he could retake control of The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC. I told him, with all due respect, to go take a long walk off a short go-f%¢#-yourself.

Are you kidding me? This thing is a pile of money, sitting on top of a heap of cash, sitting on top of a mountain of moolah. And I'm going to spend it. But in a legal, responsible way. For example, I just bought a jaguar! And I'm going to buy that jaguar its own Jaguar, and teach it to drive me around!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go –- my official Super PAC Private Zeppelin is about to land and the pilot told me I have to turn off all electronic devices. Which sucks, I was about to score a bingo on Words With Friends. Oh, the H-U-M-A-N-I-T-Y!

In conclusion: I'm rich! Rich, I tell you, rich!

Jon Stewart

President For Life For Ever

The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC

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Jason Reed / Reuters

Stephen Colbert rallies the crowd.

Late-night comedian Stephen Colbert brought his "exploratory committee" to South Carolina's College of Charleston on Friday and teamed up with former presidential candidate Herman Cain -- and perhaps more importantly, with Cain's bus.

Colbert announced on "The Colbert Report" on Jan. 12 that he was laying the groundwork for his possible candidacy for "president of the United States of South Carolina." One problem -- South Carolina does not allow for write-in candidates on its primary ballots. So in order to pursue his satirical campaign, he needed help. Enter Cain.

While no longer in the race for president, Cain is still on the South Carolina ballot. In a series of ads produced by the Super PAC Colbert used to run, but which now, for legal reasons, is being controlled by friend and fellow political satirist Jon Stewart, Colbert called on South Carolina voters to vote for Cain as a proxy for himself.

“Mr. Colbert could not get on the ballot. I could not get off the ballot. That’s how this came about," Cain said Friday. "And Mr. Colbert mentioned that there was one thing that I had that he did not have, which is a bus with my face on it. But there’s another thing that I have that Mr. Colbert does not have. ... He does not have my complexion perfection. .. That was a joke, y’all."

So why did Cain become Colbert's willing foil? In order to help Americans "lighten up," and also to further his campaign mission to "take back America." During Friday's rally, he invited the crowd of 3,300  to help him continue that drive.

"This event ... helps to bring attention to the crisis of the situation we are in," Cain said. "Every vote counts. Now Stephen Colbert asks you to vote for Herman Cain. I’m going to ask you not to vote for Herman Cain. I don’t want you to waste your vote. ... Because every vote counts and you count, which has been my message."

And why did some of the crowd turn out?

Drew Katchen / msnbc.com

A Stephen Colbert fan shows her support during the comedian's rally in Charleston, S.C., on Friday.

“I thought it would be interesting to come," said Adam Harris of Charlotte, N.C., "The way they’re doing the whole Super PAC thing, it’s just amazing how they’re shedding light on how it all works.”

“I just wanted to see what was going on," said Dale Erickson of Charleston, who identified himself as a fan of Colbert's, but not of the Republican Party.

“My mom told me to skip class for the rally,” said Caroline Reppe, 19, a College of Charleston student.

Colbert has used his "presidential" run as part of his continuing comedic attacks on campaign finance, and Super PACs in particular. Saturday's South Carolina primary falls on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision, which removed the limit on how much corporations and unions could give to campaigns, which has in turned powered the rise of PACs. Colbert didn't miss the opportunity to make the connection.

"Now some of you might be too young to remember, but years ago, back in 2010, there were still limits on how much corporations could spend on elections," Colbert said. "... And faced with this tragic lack of corporate influence in our government, two years ago, five courageous, unelected justices on the Supreme Court took a stand. … They ruled, since corporations are people, and people have the right to free speech, and money equals speech, corporations have the constitutional right to spend unlimited money on political speech.

"With the stroke of a gavel, these brave men leveled the playing field, and then sold the naming rights to that playing field to Bank of America.

"But these wise men know there had to be some reasonable restrictions, to protect all that innocent money from the corrupting influence of politicians. So they declared that unlimited corporate and union and billionaire bucks had to be completely independent of the campaigns, and so Super PACs were born unto us," Colbert said.

He went on to explain how he had his own Super PAC -- and read a legal disclaimer reminding all that his former Super PAC had nothing to do with Friday's rally.

"Giving up that Super PAC was not easy," he said. "It was like giving up my baby. Do you know who hard that is? Now imagine that baby had a whole lot of money."

Colbert has been criticized by some for using the primary as the backdrop for a running joke on his show. He addressed that criticism during Friday's rally.

"If they are calling being allowed to form a Super PAC, and collecting unlimited and untraceable amounts of money from individuals, unions, and corporations and spend that money on political ads and for personal enrichment, and then surrender that Super PAC to one of my closest friends while I explore a run for office, if that is a joke, then they are saying that our entire campaign finance system is a joke. And I don't know about you, but I have been paid to be offended by that.

"We fought a great Civil War to ensure that all people are people. Like Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg -- give me some money."

Colbert said a vote for Herman Cain would ensure that rights of corporations, and would serve as a thank you to the Supreme Court on the Citizens United anniversary.

As for what the voters of South Carolina will do? We'll find out Saturday.

Additional reporting from Drew Katchen in Charleston, S.C.

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Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson takes on Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain -- not with his fists, but with his impersonation skills -- in a hilarious new clip from the good folks at Funny or Die.

Billed as "Herman Cain's Campaign Promises with Mike Tyson," the above video is worth a look if you're already in search of some comic relief (other than this) in the long run-up to the 2012 election.

"Hello. I'm Herman Cain, the man who's been shouting the number nine in your TV," Tyson says. "I used to be the CEO of Godfather's, a restaurant so gross it made my children hate pizza. Now, I'm running for president."

Funny or Die has hit the mark before with its political impersonations. Will Ferrell as George W. Bush anyone? Or this classic.

If you thought Tyson's acting chops were a fluke when he showed up in "The Hangover," think again.