Mock conservative pundit Stephen Colbert used the pulpit of his show to announce a presumably satirical bid for the White House.

"After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call. Nation: I shall seek the office of the president of the United States," he announced Tuesday night on "The Colbert Report," balloons falling around him.

"I am doing it," he yelled.

As for what a Colbert presidency would mean for Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper may want to ready himself for a lengthy battle over his claims on the Arctic.

"Harper, it's not your job to assert claims," Colbert once said on his show. "Just repeat what the president says, add an 'a-boot' and translate it into French."

Colbert -- whose show sending up loud, self-absorbed TV pundits is seen in Canada on CTV and the Comedy Network -- has recently been mocking the coyness of some presidential hopefuls by refusing to say whether he would personally seek the United States' ultimate political prize.

His refusals often came without any prompting.

As late as Sunday, he sounded ambiguous about running, but hinted in a New York Times guest column  that a bid could be coming.

"I share Americans' nostalgia for an era when you not only could tell a man by the cut of his jib, but the jib industry hadn't yet fled to Guangdong," he wrote.

"And I don't intend to tease you for weeks the way Newt Gingrich did, saying that if his supporters raised US$30 million, he would run for president. I would run for 15 million. Cash."
 
Gingrich is a high-profile Republican.

In the column, Colbert said, "It's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."

Colbert's current book, "I Am American (And So Can You!)," allowed him to mimic what has become a standard preamble to a White House run -- a high-profile book tour.

He acknowledged that in the column: "Many candidates test the waters with a book first. Just look at Barack Obama, John Edwards or O. J. Simpson."

Simpson has not announced a presidential bid.

Colbert wants to get his name on the primary ballot of South Carolina, his home state. Asked recently what party affiliation he would adopt, Colbert said: "Both. I can lose twice."

The pundit does have the strength of the Colbert Nation fan base to draw upon. They have pushed to have a Hungarian bridge named after him and have vandalized the Wikipedia online encyclopedia by bombarding it with his terms "truthiness" and "wikiality."

Colbert's closest brush with the presidency came with a speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner, with U.S. President George Bush sitting several chairs to his right.

For those critics who said personnel changes at the White House were akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, Colbert said: "This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on The Hindenburg."

Colbert's performance, while it drew rave reviews from Bush's political adversaries, was panned by many others as being too edgy. Some thought Bush looked uncomfortable.

This year's dinner featured Canadian-born impressionist Rich Little, who offered a much gentler style. In response to one bombed joke, Little said: "And you thought (Stephen) Colbert was bad."

With files from The Associated Press