My husband and I attended the One Nation Rally last weekend. There seemed to be multiple themes, but better jobs, immigration and education reform seemed to be the main focus. There were many union groups in attendance. I also saw some signs for communist and socialist groups, but they seemed to be a very small part of the rally. It was great to know that Daily Kos had a solid group there, though I never managed to find them.
I was disappointed that I couldn't convince anyone but my husband to go to the One Nation Rally even though I have many liberal friends and family members and they're all local to DC. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that they weren't that excited about it.
Yet now these same friends and family are all excited by the Oct. 30th Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity. Some friends are even coming in from out of town. I've looked at the rally's facebook page and 200,000 have said they plan to go with 100,000 maybes. At the rate this is growing, I wouldn't be surprised if it were over a million.
I'm happy that there is something that my liberal friends are getting excited about, and I am sure I will attend the rally with them. If nothing else, when a group of people with shared values gets together, they usually become more energized. I'm hoping that this will get people excited enough to go home and vote and convince their less motivated friends and family to vote.
Truthfully though, I'm a little confused as to what this rally is all about. The official webpage for the rally <http://www.rallytorestoresanity.com> gives very little information about what we're rallying for. There is a reference to "respectful disagreement" though no specifics as to whom we're disagreeing with and what we are disagreeing about. The FAQ gives very comprehensive information about where the rally is, how we can get there, what we can bring, and even what the weather will probably be like. The facebook page about the event seems largely focused on how people are going to get there.
I suspect that Jon Stewart really didn't think this through when he said he was going to have a rally. Stewart is extremely popular, though he probably didn't realize how popular. Or maybe it's just that people feel a desperate need for a leader right now, and our elected officials just aren't making the grade.
It would be nice if Jon Stewart would give us some specifics about what we're trying to restore, but I think those of us who plan to participate need to define what we mean by "sanity" and tell our friends, blogs, and paint our signs. Here are a few that I've come up with:
It's not sanity that the Affordable Health Care Law was passed without a public option.
It's not sanity that Jim Bunning was single-handedly able to hold up unemployment and Cobra benefits for millions of unemployed people back in February of this year.
It's not sanity that TARP became a no-strings attached windfall for the banking industry.
It's not sanity that the House has passed 400+ bills this session and the Senate won't even look at them.
Even if there isn't a big Daily Kos presence there, maybe some Kossacks can help define what this rally is all about.