'Sanity' rally draws tens of thousands - USA Today

By Douglas Stanglin and Jessica Durando, USA TODAYWASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of people turned out on the sun-splashed National Mall on Saturday to hear comedian Jon Stewart proclaim "reasonableness" as the norm in American life and to jab the cable news media for being purveyors of fear and division."The country's 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder," said Stewart in a speech that wrapped up the event.

The three-hour "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" mixed comedy and music with a message that was non-partisan, yet deeply political.

Stewart, using the Capitol behind him as a physical and rhetorical backdrop, hammered home a simple message — that most people go about their lives trying to solve their day-to-day problems, even in the worst of conditions.

"The truth is, we work together to get things done every damn day," he said. "The only place we don't is here, or on cable TV — but Americans don't live here or on cable TV."

The host of The Daily Show spoke directly to the audience at the close of the program, noting that as a comedian he may well be breaking some unwritten rules of the punditocracy. "I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow how I violated them," he said, in a reference to commentators who have questioned his place on the political landscape.

Later, Stewart underscored his disdain for how some of the media operates when he was asked how he thought they would react to his barbs: "Don't care."

"Our currency is not this town's currency," he said to reporters at the National Press Club after the rally. "We're not running for anything. We don't have a constituency. We do television shows for people who like them."

Still, Stewart said, "We're proud of ourselves" for actually pulling off the rally and putting on a good show.

Crowd sizes are notoriously hard to judge, but Comedy Central, which broadcasts The Daily Show, estimated the crowd at 250,000.

The rally started out as a response to the "Restoring Honor" rally by conservative commentator Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial this summer.

Katie Tackett, 32, of Washington, D.C., attended the rally because she saw it as a cultural phenomenon, rather than a way to send America a message. "I don't think having a rally by a satirical comedian is the best way to get out a message," she said.

At the end of the event, Stewart took the stage, somewhat puzzled by what it all meant.

"So what exactly was this?" he asked as the rally wound down. "I can't control what people think this was, I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism, or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and we have nothing to fear. They are and we do."

The rally's purpose, he said, was to show that there is more that unites Americans than divides them, and that the nation should not let others use fear and bombast to undermine that.

"I'm a little bit choked up after listening to Jon Stewart talk," said Hy Alvarah, 28, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay civil rights organization. "He covered all the things we're missing in life, not just sanity and reasonableness. I was moved to tears. You expect that from politicians and preachers, not a comedian."

While the remarks were sometimes pointed and stinging, the rally was notable for its lack of partisanship. No one noted from the stage that midterm elections will be held on Tuesday.

The tone struck an important chord with many in the audience. Pat Reynolds, 76, said she came from Florida for the opportunity to "get some reasonableness."

"I was tired of the yelling and the screaming. I believe sanity is reality," Reynolds said. "We've got to put the best men in government that can compromise and that work for the American people."

That theme played out during the three-hour rally as Stewart, using fellow comedian Stephen Colbert's bombastic character as a foil, handed out awards for "reasonableness" to Colbert's awards for "fear."

To counter Colbert's call that Muslims should be feared, Stewart said, "There are a lot of Muslim people who you might like."

He then brought out basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was way too tall for the two to high-five.

Abdul-Jabbar made the point, "No matter whatever religious position someone plays, we're all on the same team."

The audience came prepared to play along. Many brought signs to underscore the message of reasonableness, or just to be funny.

Among them:

•"I'm somewhat irritated about extreme outrage."

•"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — and spiders"

•"Stand united against signs"

"I'm really glad this is an optimistic rally. All the other ones are serious. We can just laugh and realize that things aren't so bad," said Brian Steele, 19, a student at George Washington University.

Onstage, the comedy was both high and low. At one point, Stewart gave an award to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper's tight, black T-shirt, which Cooper has worn covering natural disasters.

Kid Rock performed, as did Sheryl Crow, Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples. Ozzy Osbourne got in a mock dispute with mellow folk singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens.

Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, arranged for buses to transport about 10,000 rally-goers from New York for free. She took issue with news organizations that wouldn't allow their employees to participate in the rally because they considered it political.

"It doesn't make any sense to be agnostic about sanity," said Huffington. "The rally is not political. It's not partisan. Contrived objectivity does not serve journalism."

Huffington also said the rally "helps us recognize we can have big disagreements as a country without demonizing opponents."

Contributing: Lindsay Deutsch, Marisa Kendall, Sara Newman, Bruce Schwartz

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Obama returns to home turf to rally party spirits - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;Campaign 2010 | HEADLONG DASH TO FINISH

CHICAGO — President Obama embarked on a last-ditch campaign marathon yesterday in a bid to blunt the political rebuke expected to be delivered by voters in Tuesday’s midterm elections, urging dispirited Americans to give Democrats more time to deliver on the promise of change the president made two years ago.

“For those of you who were so excited two years ago, I just want to remind you this: Two years ago was not about me,’’ the president said to volunteers at a get-out-the-vote canvassing event in Philadelphia yesterday morning. “It was about you and it was about this country. And I said then that change was going to be hard . . . We can’t move backwards now. We’ve got to keep moving forward.’’

Democrats are hoping they can avoid the widely forecasted anti-incumbent wave that could overturn the party’s majority in the US House and seriously erode its advantage in the Senate.

But Obama’s choice of locations to deliver his closing argument was telling: He made stops in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, places where he enjoyed broad support in 2008, before wrapping up last night in Illinois, where his party is struggling to prevent his former Senate seat from falling into the hands of Republicans. Obama was scheduled to visit Cleveland today.

The Illinois Senate race, between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk, is at best a toss-up for Democrats, who need a strong turnout among their base to prevent the GOP from snatching a highly symbolic victory in Obama’s backyard.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey are in a close Senate race, though most pollsters give Toomey the edge. The Connecticut Senate race is faring better for Democrats; polls show Richard Blumenthal leading Republican Linda McMahon.

Obama supporters who are sticking with the president and backing Democrats this fall foresee difficult times ahead for the party after Tuesday’s vote.

“Absolutely — I’m worried,’’ said Jarrod Ayme, 23, of Chicago, who works for a nonprofit agency. “I’m worried that [the Democrats’] power is going to dwindle considerably.’’

The president last night revved up Democrats at a rally just a few blocks from Lake Michigan and a few miles from Grant Park, where two years ago he celebrated an overwhelming Democratic victory with 240,000 ecstatic supporters.

The euphoria of that 2008 night has faded, as the nation’s slow economic recovery has undermined the president’s campaign themes of hope and change, and hurt his popularity. He also has come under fire in some quarters for pushing through a health care insurance overhaul that Republicans are promising to roll back if they seize power.

“I was gone overseas for the first six months of his presidency, and when I got back the perception of him seemed to have totally changed. . . . So many people were pessimistic,’’ said Matti Scannell, 19, of Chicago, who traveled to Spain in 2009.

Democrats are fighting to hold onto threatened Senate seats in California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, Washington, and West Virginia. In Nevada, the majority leader of the US Senate, Harry Reid, is fighting to save his career against Republican Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle. Democratic seats in North Dakota, Arkansas, and Indiana have already been all but written off as lost.

The Republican House minority leader, John Boehner, who would likely become speaker if his party takes a US House majority on Tuesday, said yesterday that Republicans stand ready to bring more transparency to government and cut federal spending if voters entrust them with the reins of power. “We’ve tried it President Obama’s way,’’ said Boehner, in the weekly Republican address. “We’ve tried it Washington’s way. It hasn’t worked. It’s time to put the people back in charge.’’

Obama has been trying for weeks to build a firewall against Democratic losses by rallying supporters in states with close races, a strategy that led him back to his hometown.

The contest between Giannoulias, the state treasurer, and Kirk, a five-term congressman from the northern Chicago suburbs, is one of the closest Senate races in the country. Most of the polls suggest the race is a statistical tie, within the typical margin of error for opinion surveys.

The tight race “is a good metaphor for what’s going on nationally,’’ said Kent Redfield, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “You’ve got the president trying to bring the Democratic base — women, African-Americans, Hispanics — back to their candidates, trying to generate enthusiasm in a state the Democrats have dominated.’’

The seat Obama gave up when he won the presidency is open this fall; Roland Burris, who was appointed by then-governor Rod Blagojevich to serve out Obama’s unfinished term, declined to run again.

The campaign to replace Burris is between two men who are considered rising stars of their parties.

Giannoulias, (pronounced jeh-NOO-lee-us) a Boston University graduate, entered politics four years ago after helping manage Broadway Bank, a Chicago community lender founded by his father. In 2006, with support from then-senator Obama, Giannoulias, then just 30, became the nation’s youngest state treasurer.

But the private banking experience that was so helpful in his last race has been a liability this year. Broadway Bank failed in April and was taken over by the FDIC. And Giannoulias has been dogged by revelations that Broadway loaned $20 million to two Chicago felons, sometimes more colorfully described as “mob figures’’ in the local media, while Giannoulias was a senior loan officer.

Those embarrassments might have crushed Giannoulias’ campaign months ago if Kirk hadn’t evened the playing field by exaggerating his résumé.

Kirk, 51, apologized in the spring for making false statements about his 21-year Navy Reserve career, including the untrue claim that he had served in the Gulf War. He speaks contritely about learning “a painful lesson’’ from the episode, though he has resisted explaining why he overstated his record. He is the type of centrist Republican that typically has the best chance of winning in Democratic-leaning Illinois, specialists said.

“Mark Kirk is not a hyper-partisan,’’ said Gabe Rubin, 18, of Skokie, who stood for hours in an eye-watering cold wind demonstrating for the Kirk campaign outside a debate last week. “I want someone who votes what he believes is best for his constituents, not what his party tells him to vote.’’

Kirk’s campaign office did not respond to several messages for an interview.

Throughout the hard-fought campaign, the candidates have eagerly exploited each other’s missteps.

“All the campaign ads begin with smears,’’ said John Brehm, a University of Chicago political science professor. “It’s been pretty dirty. Though perhaps I shouldn’t use the word ‘dirty,’ because what they’re saying about each other is true.’’

The tone of the race has been so relentlessly negative that Giannoulias surprised campaign watchers last week by promising to run only positive ads in the final days. His prohibition on attacks did not extend to debates — the two candidates exchanged unpleasantries in person last Wednesday in their final televised forum.

On Friday, Giannoulias and his mother canvassed on the busy streets of Boystown, a Chicago district with a large gay population. A jovial Giannoulias said his campaign’s field operation was ready. “Turnout in this city is going to be through the roof,’’ he predicted.

He will need a large turnout from the city’s Democratic base to win, and to save the president from an embarrassing rejection by the people who know him best.

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Jon Stewart and His Rally May Shun Politics, but Attendees Are Embracing It - New York Times

Interviews with some of the tens of thousands of people expected to attend suggest that they want a message, not a simple comedy show. Liberal groups like Media Matters and Naral Pro-Choice America will be out in force to attract new members and even Organizing for America, President Obama’s political organization, wants to draw attendees to phone banks set up near the Mall.

Tracie Lewis Kinard, 36, from Mobile, Ala., said that when she heard about the rally, “I felt like my way of thinking was finally being represented.”

She is spending about $750 on a flight and two nights at a hotel. It is worth it, she said. “For one moment, the moderates will be the news.”

Mr. Stewart has always dismissed suggestions that his satiric commentary on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” has any influence over the political process. But coming on the heels of the large Glenn Beck rally on the Mall in August, his event is a new high-wire act for him and his late-night comedy partner, Stephen Colbert: the huge crowd — observed by a horde of news media representatives — anticipated at noon on Saturday is expecting not only to be entertained, but also to be stirred.

While the event is pitched to moderates of all political persuasions, Mr. Stewart is known for having a progressive audience. In interviews, some people who plan to attend said it might bolster the spirits of Democrats on the eve of a midterm election that is expected to carry a surge of Republicans to Washington.

“To the extent that people are showing up because of their enthusiasm for the message behind the rally — that is, discontent with extremist rhetoric and divisive politics — that is a political statement, and that makes their participation political,” said Lauren Feldman, an assistant professor of communication at American University, who specializes in examining the nexus of entertainment and politics.

Mr. Stewart declined interview requests and has offered little description of what is planned. He also has apparently lowered a cone of silence over members of his staff and executives at Comedy Central, which will broadcast the rally live.

Even Judy McGrath, the chief executive at MTV Networks, the parent company of Comedy Central, also has not divulged many details. “Whatever you think it’s going to be, it’s probably not going to be that,” she said last week.

And Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks Entertainment Group and chief executive of Comedy Central, left it to the network spokesman, Tony Fox, to answer basic logistical questions.

Among the morsels: the idea for the rally was broached with the network in mid-September; there will be no commercials during the broadcast; Comedy Central will use a tape delay to block out any vulgarities; the channel will also carry the press conference with Mr. Stewart scheduled after the event; Comedy Central will own the rights to the broadcast but has no plans to replay it.

More than 1,000 individuals applied for press credentials, but the list was whittled down to 400. “We tried to be as accommodating as possible, and when we could not grant credentials, we encouraged people who didn’t get credentials to just come, because it is a free public event,” said Craig Minassian, a former Clinton administration press aide who is a consultant to Comedy Central and is helping produce the rally.

An early rundown of the event, shared by the National Parks Service, which issued the permit for the event, listed a first hour dominated by musical acts (including The Roots), with Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert performing largely in the second hour, and more musicians (including Sheryl Crow) and a taped, fake-awards conclusion in the third hour. Other guest stars are likely to appear. One on the list is Don Novello, who played Father Guido Sarducci years ago on “Saturday Night Live.” He is expected to offer an opening comic benediction, almost surely intended as a parody of the religious-themed rally headed by Mr. Beck.

Mr. Beck’s “Restore Honor” rally, held on Aug. 28, the anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, was the inspiration for Mr. Stewart’s event.

“To me, Stewart is almost saying, it’s so ludicrous that Glenn Beck has done this on the same spot as Martin Luther King that I can show how ludicrous it is by getting people to come from all over the country to watch me tell some jokes,” said Joe Cutbirth, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia (who, like Ms. Feldman, is traveling to Washington for the rally).

Amber Day, from Bryant University in Rhode Island, who will also be attending the rally, said the political basis for the event was inescapable. “I think Jon is being cagey,” said Ms. Day whose book, “Satire and Dissent,” will be published in February. “What he wants to say is, it’s not partisan. He wants to preserve his persona of just being the guy at the back of the class throwing spitballs.”

Success in rallies is usually defined by crowd count and coverage. Ms. Day said one measure of the event’s success would be how much time it earned on CNN and Fox News.

The reaction of other cable channels is likely to be of less concern to Mr. Stewart than meeting the expectations of fans who are crowding the city’s hotels for the weekend or those across the country watching on TV and staging satellite rallies in several cities. “I like the fact that I am going to something and I have no idea what will happen there,” wrote Charlie Caldwell, 18, a student at Louisiana State University, in a Facebook post Wednesday. “But I know I will have a good time.”

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Bill Clinton at UCLA Rally for Brown and Newsom - NECN

(NECN/CNN: Los Angeles, Calif.) - What better way to secure votes than to bring in the big guns!

Democratic heavy-hitter former President Bill Clinton is in Southern California Friday hoping to reel in votes for his party.  
He's stumping for gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom-- who's running for Lieutenant Governor.  

They were at a campaign event at U-C-L-A.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave their introductions.  

All three made rock-star entrances in front of a screaming crowd of some 6,000 students.  

Clinton urged students to get out and vote during this critical election--- saying it's quote 'not enough to have voted for a new president if you will not let him govern.'

Brown is in a tight race with Republican Meg Whitman for the governor's seat.  

While Newsom is up against Republican Abel Maldonado-- who was appointed Lieutenant Governor when the spot was left vacant by U-S Representative John Garamendi.

Clinton was in Orange County earlier Friday-- and heads to Northern California to support other Democratic candidates though the weekend. 

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At a Rally, Obama Tries to Fire Up the Democratic Base - New York Times

With less than a month to go before the midterm elections in November, Mr. Obama, facing what most political observers predict will be significant losses of Democratic seats in Congress, was using every weapon in his arsenal to prod the people who helped propel him into the White House two years ago not to cede the partisan battlefield to the Republicans this year.

“Don’t make me look bad now,” Mr. Obama said. “I’m betting on you.”

Thursday’s rally, held at Bowie State University under beautiful clear skies, drew several thousand college students and local residents, many of them African Americas — core components of the Democratic Party base.

“I’m going to need you just as fired up as you were in 2008,” Mr. Obama told them.

When a heckler yelled “You’re a liar!” in response, people nearby spent the next few minutes shouting the heckler down, making it difficult for many in the audience to hear what the president, who was flanked on the dais by Maryland’s top elected Democrats, was saying.

“Two years ago, you defied the conventional wisdom in Washington,” Mr. Obama told the crowd. “I know everybody here remembers the inauguration. I know it was cold, but everybody here was having a good time. Beyoncé was singing.” He said it was imperative to harness that euphoria again.

Governor Martin O’Malley, who is once again battling the man he defeated when the Democrats were riding high in 2006 — former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. — sounded familiar Democratic themes in introducing Mr. Obama. “They took six years to drive the country into a ditch, and then wonder why this president can’t make it right as rain in 18 months,” Mr. O’Malley said, to cheers.

But then, foreshadowing the tough road ahead for his own party this year, Mr. O’Malley added, perhaps unhelpfully: “They can take back New Jersey, they can take back Virginia, but they can’t take back Maryland!”

After the rally in Bowie, Mr. Obama was headed for Chicago to campaign to keep his old Senate seat in Democratic hands.

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Liberals rally in Washington: Will it help Democrats? - Christian Science Monitor

The Democratic base gathered in Washington Saturday, seeking to rouse their party in the face of likely losses in the midterm elections just a month from now.

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Comparisons to Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally at the same Lincoln Memorial site five weeks ago were obvious. National Park Service police stopped counting crowds years ago, and although tens of thousands (at least) gathered at Saturday’s “One Nation Working Together” rally it likely did match the tea party crowd who flocked to see Beck and Sarah Palin.

The full title of the event was “One Nation Working Together For Jobs, Justice and Education for All” – which covers just about everybody under the Democratic Party’s big tent, as well as its current effort to highlight differences with Republicans.

Sponsoring and participating organizations – some 400 in all – ranged from steelworkers and public employees unions to environmental groups, gay rights advocates, Hispanic organizations, and peace groups.

While Beck’s rally was more religious than overtly political, Saturday’s “One Nation” event focused specifically on next month’s elections.

"Today we march, tomorrow we vote,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the crowd.

Getting out that vote is a challenge.

“What's clear to me is that getting ourselves to the poll is truly up to us,” NAACP president Benjamin Jealous told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Thursday. “A lot of folks who have invested in encouraging massive voter turnout – black voters, brown voters, students, working class whites – for whatever reason are not investing in it right now.”

From the top of the Democratic Party on down, leaders are trying to stir that base, particularly since many polls show Republicans – not to mention their tea party allies – much more enthusiastic about the upcoming elections.

“We have to get folks off the sidelines,” President Obama said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine. “People need to shake off this lethargy, people need to buck up.”

At a political fund-raiser in New Hampshire Monday, Vice President Joe Biden said Democrats must “remind our base constituency to stop whining.”

From the beginning, the White House has frequently found itself at odds with liberal activists pushing for a more progressive agenda – a public option as part of universal health care, for example. In August, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs famously complained about the “professional left.”

Such comments have brought some pushback.

“I can't for the life of me understand what the White House thinks it gains by continually poking the base – the people who actually vote in mid-term elections – only five weeks before the election,” wrote blogger John Aravosis. “Are they trying to convince the rest of Democrats – you know, the people who don't vote in mid-terms – that if they did vote, they should vote for Democrats because the people concerned about the state of the party, and the nation, are ‘whiners’?”

Saturday’s rally was an attempt to get beyond the party’s intramural squabbling, rouse the troops, focus on what’s politically doable, and reverse current trends showing congressional losses just a few weeks from now.

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'One Nation' rally draws thousands of Dem backers - Chicago Sun-Times

WASHINGTON -- Tapping into anger as the Tea Party movement has done, a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups marched by the thousands Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats struggling to keep power on Capitol Hill.

"We are together. This march is about the power to the people," said Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC. "It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?"

In his fiery speech, which opened the "One Nation Working Together" rally on the National Mall, Schultz blamed Republicans for shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms. Borrowing some of conservative commentator Glenn Beck's rhetoric, he vowed to "take back our country."

"This is a defining moment in America. Are you American?" Schultz told the raucous crowd. "This is no time to back down. This is time to fight for America."

With a month of campaigning, the Democratic-leaning organizers hoped the four-hour program of speeches and entertainment would energize activists crucial to Democrats' chances of retaining their majorities in the House and Senate. The national mood suggests gains for the GOP, and Republicans are hoping to ride voter anger to gain control of the House and possibly the Senate.

More than 400 organizations, including labor unions, faith, environmental and gay rights groups, joined together for the event one month after Beck packed the same space with conservatives and Tea Party-style activists.

Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck's rally. But Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as Beck's crowd. AP

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