Stephen Colbert: Great Boss, Potentially A Republican?

Update/Correction: Sam Reich has since removed the below item from his blog, and the contents of the below post can no longer be verified and may be inaccurate. The Huffington Post regrets the confusion.

CollegeHumor's Sam Reich blogged about his visit to the set of "The Colbert Report," where his friend Barry is a writer. Reich reported that Colbert may be a conservative, according to the writers on the show, and that he voted for a Republican president at least once in his life. Reich also reported the interesting, but not surprising, tidbit that Colbert is a "great boss" who thanks his writers personally when they deliver a good monologue:

I asked Barry if any conservatives worked at the show, and he said he doubted it, although the jury was out on Colbert. He's a devout Catholic, goes to church every Sunday and teaches Sunday school. He's also voted for at least one Republican president. Still, there's no doubt where his politics lay at present. On the left part of the set, the part that we at home don't see, there's a banner that says "McCain '08: The Luck Stops Here." Before the show starts, Colbert does laps around his desk and then addresses his audience: "Does anyone have any questions that can help redeem me in real life for who I play on television?"

He's a great boss, too. When monologues go particularly well, he calls writers to thank them personally. Once, when calling New Zealand "Diet Australia" got a lot of laughs, he gave the author a bottle of wine. Barry was responsible for "The Word" when John Edwards took it over this past Thursday, and the reaction was so good that Colbert said, "What White House correspondents dinner?"

Read Sam's entire account from his time at the "Colbert Report" here.