On Oct. 30, an estimated 215,000 Americans frustrated with the current climate of U.S. politics convened at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to attend Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
While the signs brandished by members of the crowd tended toward liberal ideals, conservatives also were in attendance wielding signs of their own.
Most signs were indictments of politics in general, not criticisms of one political party over another. One sign asked, “Who’s on our side?” and depicted a Spy versus Spy cartoon in the red and blue hues that most associate with the two major political parties. Another stated, “Proud to be non-affiliated.”
Most Americans, Stewart said, don’t live their lives solely as Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, but as “people who are just a little bit late for something they have to do, often something they do not want to do. But they do it.”
“Something can be political without being partisan,” said junior Steven Cootware, one of several Geneseo students who attended the rally. “This was not about supporting particular ideas, but about supporting calm dialogue about the ideas without calling your opponent whatever negative insult you can come up with … There were obviously some people there that didn’t get it, but the performance stuck to that message.”
The rally opened up with a performance from The Roots, who played with multiple musicians including John Legend, Ozzy Osbourne, the O’Jays and Yusuf Islam at different points throughout the rally. Other musical guests included Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Tony Bennett.
The musical acts were interlaced with comedic performances from Stewart and Colbert as well as guests like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and R2D2. Stewart and Colbert mock dueled each other throughout, with Stewart advocating for sanity and reasonableness and Colbert championing for fear and panic.
At one point, Colbert began appealing to video montages of news reports detailing all the ways in which Americans were divided and how they ought to be afraid of potential threats to their individual welfares and the health of the country. But as he was claiming victory for his cause of restoring fear, Stewart retorted, “Most of those fears are overblown and won’t come true. And even if they do, the American people can come together and solve them.”
During his closing remarks, Stewart mixed humor with a serious tone to deliver an explanation of his own intentions with the rally. He did not attack any particular political party, but instead focused his discussion on advocating reason and compromise. He said that the media, which he called “the country’s 24-hour politico pundit perpetual panic conflictinator,” is not the main cause of the country’s problems but does present an obstacle that prevents Americans from solving those problems.
“If we amplify everything, we hear nothing,” Stewart said, sparking one of the loudest applauses of the rally.
The crowd represented a diverse cross-section of the United States’ populace. “I thought this was going to be a D.C. affair,” said Rick, a Virginia resident who works in D.C. and attended the rally. “But there are people from all around the country here … It’s great to see so many people come out, you know, because it really is getting ridiculous here [in Washington].”
“I had to make the trip,” said one rally attendee from New Haven, Conn. who was dressed as Jesus. “This is just such a great thing.”
Though some had assumed that the rally attendees would mostly be young adults, myriads over the age of 50 were in attendance, including a group of people bearing a sign that said, “Seniors can like Jon Stewart too!”
While some were pleased with the large turnout, there were drawbacks to having such a large crowd. “It was great … but maybe there should be better planning next time,” junior Steve Bennett said. “I was pretty far back and it was hard to see the JumboTron.”
There were also periodic chants of “louder, louder!” sprinkled throughout the beginning of the rally, and some people climbed trees to get a better view.
Ultimately, one sign in particular captured the theme of the day: “Democracy needs sane discourse,” it read.