On Facebook.com, the ultimate indicator of our generation’s opinions, the group “1,000,000 Strong For Stephen T. Colbert” already has nearly a million members and is ever growing — the group gained more than 1,000 members in five minutes alone.

But in all seriousness, while Colbert doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at the Oval Office, his “campaign” can certainly draw some much-needed student attention on the impending presidential primaries.

Because, let’s face it, young people don’t have the best record of showing up at the polls, and more than 67 percent of the 1.3 million people who tune in to Colbert’s nightly show across the nation are between the ages of 18 and 49, according to ratings by Nielsen Media Research. Will Feltus, a national advertisement buyer, told The Atlantic Monthly that Colbert’s viewers are the same demographic targeted by beer marketers — 18- to 34-year-old men who are “above-average consumers of adult beverages.” Sure sounds like a college student to us.

And while Colbert’s declaration of intent is nothing more than another successful publicity stunt to draw attention to his show and his image, it could just be the necessary wake-up call to a generally apathetic generation usually too busy or distracted to make it to the polls in January or November. It’s sad that it takes a comedian on a syndicated, late-night cable show to do this, but if it works, who cares?

Colbert and his counterpart Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show,” while irreverent and crass, do encourage the public to look critically at both the happenings in Washington and abroad and the way the media present those happenings.

And in 2004, the National Annenberg Election Survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that people who get their news mainly from “The Daily Show” were better informed about election issues than people who read newspapers or watch national news.

Maybe we’ve written off this new campaign scheme too quickly — after all, with the right amount of publicity, Colbert has the potential to take away a few votes from some of the clowns in this circus-like election season.

He does already have the name recognition, and with his never-ending conservative spoof, he’s been able to illustrate some of the ridiculousness of the political arena on both sides of the fence.

So regardless of which candidate you support, legitimate or otherwise, make sure you vote in the upcoming local election in November and the presidential primary. It’s your chance to be heard, and your vote is absolutely essential to keep this great nation afloat.

After all, it’s what Colbert would want you to do.