In the shadow of the Capitol and days before the election, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert entertained a huge throng rallying on Saturday for "sanity," poking fun at the nation's diversity and its ill-tempered politics. 
 
 Buttons for sale at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear are seen in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs and political activism drew thousands to the National Mall... (Associated Press) 
 
 Val Ibarra, 29, of San Francisco, Ca., holds up a sign at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs and political activism drew... (Associated Press) 
 
 Don Combs, left, and his wife Lisa Combs, of Long Island, New York, holds signs at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, in Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs... (Associated Press) 
 
 People gather near the stage for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear rally on the National Mall in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Associated Press) 
 
 Jim Rothe, left, and Paul Fouschia, both of Cincinnati, dressed as the "Blues Brothers" at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs... (Associated Press) 
 
 People vie for position during Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, in Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally, blending laughs and political activism, drew thousands to the National... (Associated Press) 
 
 People int he crowd hold up homemade signs at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally, blending laughs and political activism, drew thousands... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tony Smick, of Madison, Wisconsin, right, attends the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs and political activism drew thousands... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sabrina de la Torre, center, laughs as footage from the Daily Show plays at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, in Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. The "sanity" rally blending laughs and political... (Associated Press) 
 
 The crowds _ easily tens of thousands strong _ were festive, goofy, disillusioned with the state of politics if not the nation, and ready to play nice at a gathering called as a counterweight to all the shouting and flying insults of a polarized election season. 
 
 Organizers insisted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear wasn't about politics. Still, supporters and left-leaning advocacy groups hoped it would rekindle some of the voter enthusiasm for Democrats seen in 2008, particularly among young adults. 
 
 Stewart, host of the satirical cable TV news show, "The Daily Show," is popular especially with Democrats and independents, a Pew Research Center poll found. Colbert of "The Colbert Report" poses as an ultraconservative, and the stage Saturday was stacked with entertainers associated with Democratic causes or Obama's 2008 campaign. 
 
 In one routine, Stewart and his associates queried some crowd-goers to identify themselves by category, eliciting answers from attendees such as "half-Mexican, half-white," "American woman single" and "Asian-American from Taiwan." 
 
 "It's a perfect demographic sampling of the American people," Stewart cracked. "As you know, if you have too many white people at a rally, your cause is racist. If you have too many people of color, then you must be asking for something _ special rights, like eating at restaurants or piggy back rides." 
 
 The event sought in part to be a counterpoint to the "Restoring Honor" rally in August by Glenn Beck, the Fox News commentator popular among conservatives. Beck's rally, which had strong religious overtones, drew some protests from civil rights supporters because it coincided with the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington. 
 
 Don Novello, who years ago played Father Guido Sarducci on the TV comedy "Saturday Night Live," provided the benediction. He polled the crowd on their religious leanings, then gave thanks to God for allowing everyone to assign their various causes to him. 
 
 Colbert arrived on stage like a rescued Chilean mine worker, in a capsule from a supposed underground bunker, after Stewart made a show of counting the crowd, tens of thousands strong, one by one. 
 
 Egged on by the hosts, Ozzy Osbourne and Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, engaged in something of a battle of the bands, the heavy-metal rocker and the folk-rocker interrupting each others' train-themed songs. They were followed by the O'Jays performing their hit "Love Train." 
 
 Other performers included John Legend and The Roots, Sheryl Drow, "Law & Order" actor Sam Waterston, and Tony Bennett, who closed the show by singing "America The Beautiful." 
 
 But there were political undertones, too, pushing back against conservatives ahead of Tuesday's election. 
 
 Slogans urged people to "relax." But also: "Righties, don't stomp on my head," a reference to an incident before a Senate debate in Kentucky at which a liberal activist was pulled to the ground and stepped on. And, "I wouldn't care if the president was Muslim." 
 
 Shannon Escobar, 31, of Bangor, Pennsylvania, came with a group of 400 people on buses chartered in New York. A supporter of President Barack Obama in 2008, she said she's tired of nasty rhetoric from both sides and disenchanted with lack of progress in Washington. 
 
 "I want to see real change _ not Obama change," she said. "We need a clean slate and start over with people really working together." 
 
 A regular viewer of Stewart's "The Daily Show," she said she had a dream that he ran for political office, but got "corrupt and dirty." 
 
 "I need him to stay pure," she said, deadpan. 
 
 People also carried signs in favor of the United Farmworkers labor union and the movement to give the U.S. capital a voting seat in Congress. Many were college students, but the crowd cut across all age groups. "Seniors for pot" cried a half-dozen older people. 
 
 Even so, Stewart said the day was about toning down anger and partisan division. "Shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for your throat," he said on his website. 
 
 Comedy Central's park permit put the crowd estimate at 60,000. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.rallytorestoresanityandorfear.com ||||| Drew Angerer/The New York Times 
 
 Thousands gathered on the National Mall with the comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Saturday for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Below is the live blog of the event. [Related Article] 
 
 In recent years, the weekend before Election Day has traditionally been a time for learning the names of candidates, figuring out the locations of nearby polling places and figuring out which foreign country to vow to move to if the other guys win. So it was a jolt when Comedy Central’s political satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced a few weeks ago that they would instead use this Saturday for a pair of competing rallies at the National Mall in Washington – events that were soon combined, Voltron-style, into a single super-gathering called the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. 
 
 Is the rally just a fun way to spend an afternoon with entertainers, comedians and 200,000 of your closest, most apolitical friends? A covert promotion for progressive causes on the eve of a crucial midterm vote? Is it, as one writer has already argued, the Woodstock for the millennial generation? (Hey, man, if you didn’t blog about it, you weren’t really there.) 
 
 Keep checking this page for live updates on the rally, including dispatches from Washington by The Times’s Brian Stelter and Sabrina Tavernise. ||||| Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, the founding fathers of fake news, drew throngs of exuberant supporters to Washington on Saturday for a joint rally that crowded streets, taxed the transit system and flooded the Mall. 
 
 With midterm elections looming and Democrats bracing for a historic thumping, the two comedians reined in their three-hour show to nonpartisan bits, musical entertainment and gentle ribbing of the purported enemies of incivility. The denizens of the Capitol, visible behind the stage, escaped their usual excoriation. 
 
 But at the rally's conclusion, Stewart changed his tone and his outfit. Having swapped a black T-shirt and blazer for a suit and tie, the comedian argued that the rally's target was the caustic level of discourse in Washington, and its nasty echoes on cable television's 24-hour news cycle. Stewart said that noisy debate obscured a reality that he perceived: that everyone throughout the country had found a way to work together. 
 
 "The only place we don't is here or on cable TV," said Stewart, putting much of the blame on Washington. In earnest terms that bordered on political rhetoric, he orated, "If we amplify everything, we hear nothing." 
 
 (VIDEO: Stewart closes with a serious message) 
 
 Stewart and Colbert built their stage on the opposite end of the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial steps, where conservative commentator Glenn Beck led a similarly vast and homogenous crowd two months ago. That rally, with its religious theme of "Restoring Honor," had conservative political undertones and prompted Saturday's satiric response. 
 
 The two rallies represented two distinct television audiences and self-identifying political constituencies. 
 
 "This is my comedy channel," read a sign emblazoned with the Fox News logo, hoisted by Steven Crawford of York, Pa. The other side of the sign, illustrated with a Comedy Central logo, read: "This is my news channel." 
 
 Democratic and Republican leaders argued that the comedic rally either boosted reserves of Democratic enthusiasm, or exhausted it by drawing potential door-knockers away from battleground states, all for some laughs on the Mall. 
 
 Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is tasked with preserving the House Democratic majority, expressed optimism that the rally "boosts energy among younger voters," adding that "anything that boosts participation among young voters is a good thing generally, and given how they largely voted in 2008, good for Democrats." 
 
 Young voters have increasingly turned to Comedy Central's "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" for political news, but in the days before the rally, observers of the political-media complex sought the larger goal of this unusual gathering: Would visiting progressives of all ages actually take political marching orders from comedians? 
 
 The question turned out to be moot. In their closing remarks, neither Colbert nor Stewart was explicit in his demands. "Your presence is what I wanted," Stewart stated simply. ||||| From msnbc.com's Carrie Dann and Ryan McCartney: 
 
 Washington, D.C. -- It's a crisp, sunny fall day here and thousands are gathering on the National Mall for the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear." Since noon, the crowd has been warmed up and entertained by the likes of The Roots, John Legend and the hosts of "Myth Busters." 
 
 The crowds stretch for about four blocks at this point with more people streaming in on both sides of the Mall. Unlike the Glenn Beck rally last August (which this one is seen as the counter rally), there are plenty of signs being sported today. 
 
 Some examples: A sign in Islamic script with a subtitle reading: "Relax, it just says McDonalds"; another that says "Don't you hate pants?"; another stating "Obama=Keynesian" and plenty of signs targeting Fox News. 
 
 Isaac Attias, 23, came from Brooklyn, New York and the recent college graduate wore his cap and gown and carried a sign that says: "Will trade diploma for job." A strict Democrat, Attias says, "I graduated with what I have on. This was the actual cap and gown I wore when I graduated--it served me well for 20 minutes." 
 
 Attias and his friend Mike Bradley said they were surprised at the varying ages of the attendees. "A lot of people were saying it was going to be all college-aged kids like us, but there are a lot of older people here." 
 
 One of those older attendees was Ramelle MaCoy, 85, who came from Harrisburg Pennsylvania. McCoy carried a sign reading, "Levitate if you think Fox News is fair and balanced." 
 
 McCoy said he came to protest the influence of the Tea Party in this election and says he feel confident that this rally will help turn out the vote for Democrats this Tuesday. "I feel confident with no good reason that a large percentage of the massive crowd here will vote and a great percentage will vote for having been here." 
 
 Crunched but not confused: From Carrie Dann in the crowd: A block away from the rally, it's tough to see or hear much. 
 
 It's packed the point of being difficult to move around, and the acoustics aren't good enough to make out the words coming from the stage. But it's not stopping folks from enjoying the party atmosphere. 
 
 People have climbed atop the Porta Potty's and dumpsters in order to get a better view. Folks who have climbed into trees are starting cheers and applause. 
 
 "What are we cheering for!?" many ask each other, gleefully cheering along anyway. 
 
 Yes, that might be a metaphor: It's more about being a part of the event than the content for the people who have come for the day, it seems. 
 
 There's a wide variety of reasons that people are here -- there are plenty of clever signs, a smattering of goofy costumes, and political messages of promoting tolerance and bashing FOX News, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Party -- generally with some tongue-in-cheek humor. ("Don't Tea on My Leg and then tell me it's raining") 
 
 But the common thread appears to be annoyance at the shrillness of Tea Party politics, and a general desire to be recognized as reasonable people who care. 
 
 "Just chill," is the sentiment of many a sign. 
 
 "This is pushback," said Karen, a government employee from southern Maryland who's in her 40s. "Pushback against what the right says about us, about 'business as usual in Washington.'" 
 
 This, she says with a grin, is "the political equivalent of Woodstock." 
 
 Big names -- from the entertainment world: In case you haven't noticed yet, the theme of this rally is pitting "sanity" (personified by Stewart) against "fear" (in the person of Colbert). Plenty of big name entertainers are on hand to bolster that battle, including a battle of the bands faceoff between Ozzy Osbourne and his hit, "Crazy Train" and Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens' "Peace Train." In the end, it was settled by the O'Jays and a rendition of "Love Train." 
 
 No political figures on stage, at least not yet. 
 
 More signage: Some more signs spotted in the crowd: 
 
 "I already regret choosing to carry a sign around all day" 
 
 "Bipartisanship is sexy" 
 
 "Save the dinosaurs" 
 
 "In reason we trust" 
 
 "I'm not pro-abortion" 
 
 "Green Tea Party" 
 
 "Vote lawyers out" 
 
 "Beck, putting the dumb in freedom" 
 
 Bookends: msnbc's Vaughn Ververs weighs in from afar -- There are plenty of differences between this gathering and the Beck rally back in August but also some notable similarities. Neither rally has been overtly political in terms of pushing a specific issue or policy agenda. The first was clearly conservative, this one clearly progressive in nature. Neither has featured elected officials (although Sarah Palin did speak at the Beck rally and she is clearly a political figure). 
 
 For a political season centered on anti-establishment sentiment, it's not a surprise we're not seeing a whole bunch of elected officials but both rallies serve to illustrate what can be described as a cultural tug-of-war. Fittingly, Beck held his rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Today's rally is at the other end of The Mall, in front of the Capitol. Bookends indeed. 
 
 Some final thoughts: From Carrie Dann at The Mall -- This may have been the only rally in American history attended by tens of thousands of irony-loving hipsters, Democratic-leaning middle-aged federal workers, a rap-star-turned-country-singer, libertarian pot legalization activists, a butter-voiced songster, and dozens of people in banana suits. 
 
 The "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" was attended by tens of thousands of supporters of comedians/satirists Stewart and Colbert -- ranging from families who had traveled cross-country to attend to curious locals. The size of the event appeared fairly comparable to the Beck rally, but the atmosphere of this event was less Fourth of July than it was Halloween, New Years, the Fourth of July, and a rock concert rolled into one. 
 
 Signs abounded, as the event's hosts had urged during the run up to the event. The messages ranged from strongly political ("The Left is what's right; The Right is what's left"), to tongue-in-cheek ("Poster board is a terrible medium for complex arguments"), to just plain silly ("Grapes are delicious.") 
 
 The carnival atmosphere was enhanced by many attendees who wore Halloween costumes -- there were medieval soldiers, vuvuzelas, cartons of French fries, and Waldos, bananas, and zombies aplenty. 
 
 Many of the attendees were able to see very little of the rally. People climbed aboard portable restrooms, dangled from trees, and crowded near the area reserved for media in hopes of catching a glimpse of the stage or an audio feed of Stewart and Colbert's banter and musical performances by the likes of The Roots, Kid Rock, and Tony Bennett. 
 
 Their message was mostly one of political moderation, the common humanity of Americans of all different political views, and frustration with the media's portrayal of partisan politics. (A common sign in the crowd: "Think outside the FOX.") 
 
 While those with prime seats were rapt listeners to the comedians' sometimes-jokey, sometimes-obliquely-political jokes and observations, those packed onto either side of the mall were a combination of curious people-watchers and those content to feel like the part of a social movement fueled by moderation -- even if the message was hard to hear. 
 
 If this and the Beck rally were what the 2010 midterm elections are all about, the 2012 presidential election will be eagerly anticipated. 
 

– Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have wrapped up their big DC rally, a mix of their usual political shtick and eclectic musical acts (Ozzy, Tony Bennett, and the former Cat Stevens, for instance) performed in front of tens of thousands on the National Mall. "I can't control what people think this was," said Stewart. "I can only tell you my intentions: this was not a rally to ridicule people...or look down at the or to suggest times are not difficult and we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. We live now in hard times but these are not End Times. We can have animus and not be enemies." A sampling of the material: Stewart handed out a "Medal of Reasonableness" award to Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga for accepting, with grace, a blown call that cost him a perfect game. Colbert gave a "Fear Award" to various news organizations for not allowing employees attend the rally. Coverage at AP, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and MSNBC.