Khazei competes in the Colbert primary

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Martha Coakley may have stumbled when she delivered oral arguments before the Supreme Court last year, but she is not the only US Senate candidate who has been tested on a big stage.

Alan Khazei faced a test of his own about nine months ago, on a decidedly less austere platform: He was a guest on "The Colbert Report," the wry, satirical show Stephen Colbert hosts on Comedy Central.

How did he do? Judge for yourself.

Khazei’s Jan. 14 appearance, which lasted roughly 6 minutes, was to promote a national day of service on Martin Luther King Day. Up against a barrage of humor and sarcasm, Khazei remained earnest.

"I believe Martin Luther King also said, ‘Follow the money,’" Colbert said at one point. "‘I've got my mind on my money and my money on my mind,’ is one of the things I believe he said."

"I can assure you, Martin Luther King did not say that," Khazei responded.

Colbert later said America was built on "people who had a tea fetish" and "Indian burial grounds -- that's why the walls are bleeding and you hear that screaming from the attic these days. The damn country is haunted!"

Khazei launched into a spiel that will be familiar to anyone who has followed his Senate campaign.

“You know, Stephen, this country was founded with citizen soldiers who put down their pitchforks and picked up their muskets to overthrow an empire,” he said. “It was the abolitionists that lead the movement to end slavery, it was the suffragists that built the movement to give women the right to vote, the civil rights movement. It's always been citizens who have led the change in this country, and that's what we need now...we need all hands on deck."

At the end of his appearance, Khazei asked Colbert to sign up to volunteer through a “Declaration of Service.” Colbert ended up signing it, but then revealed he didn’t use his own name, instead signing “Eugene Trubnick.”

See behind-the-scenes photos of Khazei's appearance here.