http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/30/jon_stewart_sanity_rally/index.htmlThe Rally to Restore Sanity: Nonpartisan, but political
Why Democrats shouldn't be worried about Jon Stewart's "nonpartisan" election-eve event
By Alex Pareene
Reuters
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart during the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or/Fear" in Washington
Jon Stewart didn't lie. His "Rally to Restore Sanity" was aggressively non-partisan. But while none of the participants had anything to say about the upcoming midterm elections (besides a brief shout of "vote!" by American treasure and '60s civil rights marcher Tony Bennett),
there was a quiet political message. And, honestly, it's a message that Democrats should be happy with.
An endorsement of civility and reason is basically an endorsement of Barack Obama. "Reason and civility" are practically the Democratic party's platform. The rally was a call to keep fighting for the things that make educated young liberals support Democrats in the first place.The Republican midterm strategy is based on anger and resentment. A celebration of the idea that basically everyone's pretty OK at heart is a pretty liberal message. Some of the comedy (most of it involving Stephen Colbert) was explicitly against Republican midterm fear-mongering campaigns involving the demonization of Islam -- like bringing on Yusef Islam and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to drive home the apparently controversial point that Muslims are nice, pleasant people.
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As a piece of politicking, the Rally to Restore Sanity got a couple hundred thousand young liberals excited about sincerity and inspired about their nation on the eve of the midterm elections. I can't really see a downside, unless you think tepid criticisms of MSNBC's tone will convince liberals not to vote this Tuesday.