When Mike DeFilippo spotted the "END ROAD WORK" sign at the corner of 4th Street and Constitution Avenue NW after the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, he adopted it as his own. He transformed it from the endpoint of construction to a call for the elimination of street improvements.

Continue reading

"End road work! End road work!" he chanted for 10 to 15 seconds at a time, drawing laughs and applause from the crowds passing by. He'd let people take their photos, wait for a new bunch to walk by, and repeat the gag.

That this was merely a moderately strange antic amidst this crowd shows that any serious analysis of the day can sound awfully tone-deaf, not to mention a bit of a buzz kill. But we in the media like writing things, and some writers weren't totally in on the joke. Seventy-five rallygoers polled by TBD were unanimous in discarding the pundits' favorite arguments, including that some of Jon Stewart's fans might be alienated by this brazen, outdoors attempt at conveying his message. 

"It's a comedy show," said DeFilippo, a photographer from St. Louis. "People are here to laugh and have a good time, and people are here to feel like they're not alone, that they're not outnumbered by the Fox News crowd."

Among the 75 people polled, there was little agreement as to whether this was primarily a political rally or a comedy show. But they did mostly agree on this: They didn't care much for the question. It doesn't matter, they argued.

Though most people who were willing to characterize their politics said they considered themselves liberal, the majority said they were there for Stewart's message and the spectacle of it all.

"It's the environment, it's the message," said Phil Fleisher of Long Island, N.Y., who held a sign instructing people: "Don't be an asshole." He's not even sure if he's registered to vote.

"Be cool," he continued. "Don't be an asshole to each other. I just want everyone to chill out a bit."

That, they argued, was Stewart's main goal. He wasn't wading too far into partisan political waters. He wasn't overstepping his boundaries as a comedian. He wasn't becoming a little too high on himself. Not a single one said he or she felt disappointed in Stewart.

"Obviously not a lot of people are turned off," said Jennifer Williams, 28, of Rockville. "There's like 60 bajillion people here right now."

Told there were critics out there who thought the rally cause some fans to turn on Jon Stewart, 29-year-old Emily Rawn of New York City countered: "It's gotta be people who don't really know who the fanbase is."

So who was the fanbase at the rally? Overwhelmingly liberal, certainly, but with  a healthy sense of humor; many of them carried signs more likely to mock logical fallacies than Republicans. They claimed to seek compromises and calm discussions.

Some believed the rally was a direct response to Glenn Beck's one this past September, and that Stewart's carrying water for the Democrats. "This is a political rally," said Marcus Trevisani, 40, of Manhattan. "And if it has to happen under the cover of humor, so be it."

Yet there were many who were more interested in the theater. "It's a bigger version of what he usually does," said Matt Boyle, 29, of Grand Island, Neb. "And in this political environment, it's needed."

Flynn Daunt, 22, a student at York University in Toronto, was here on a fact-finding mission: It was his first trip to Washington, and he was curious whether all Americans are, in fact, nuts.

"The only thing we see from the U.S. is the news, and it makes you all look crazy, to be honest," he said. "But most people seem like they're not the crazy, yell-y people who are on the news all the time."