Stephen Colbert's shtick is so over the top that everyone gets it, right? No one really takes him for a genuine, God-fearing conservative, right? We thought so too, until we came across a new poll conducted by Harvard's Institute of Politics that flips that theory on its head.

Conducted on 18-to-24-year-olds, the fairly dense poll finally gets interesting when America's youth is asked about Colbert and his partner in satire, Jon Stewart. Turns out Republicans prefer Colbert—by a lot. Forty-nine percent of the study's youthful GOPers prefer Colbert, compared to 21 percent who prefer Stewart. More interestingly, 43 percent of those who call themselves "religious conservatives" prefer Colbert (nine percent for Stewart) and 40 percent of "traditional conservatives" like Stephen (13 percent for Jon).

There are two possible explanations for conservative-love for a man who routinely skewers them: 1. Republicans are actually self-aware and able to take a joke 2. They think that Colbert shtick is not shtick at all. Obviously the first option can't be true: self-aware Republican is an oxymoron on the level of jumbo shrimp, which means they're buying it. Which in turn finally explains the growing movement in the Young Republicans to exterminate bears from America.