At least 55 Syracuse University students will join people from across the nation pouring onto the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s dueling satirical rallies.

‘It’s the first opportunity for some students to become politically active, even if it’s in more of a comedic sense,’ said Amy Snider, one of the organizers of a bus that will bring SU students to the event.

The two rallies will take place from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, on the far eastern end of the National Mall in D.C. Part of the reason the celebrity pair is holding the rallies is in response to Glenn Beck’s ‘Restoring Honor’ rally, which attracted approximately 87,000 people Aug. 28. Beck’s rally drew criticism for being held on the anniversary of the March on Washington.

Bus tickets for the ride to the nation’s capital for the ‘Rally to Restore Sanity’ and ‘March to Keep Fear Alive’ rallies will be handed out free of charge at Schine Student Center on a first-come, first-serve basis Wednesday starting at 11 a.m. The rally and march will host speakers, including Comedy Central hosts Stewart and Colbert.

Snider and Democracy Matters President Christina Levin have reached out to every politically based organization on campus, including College Republicans, Snider said. 

‘I really hope that the College Republicans come out, and even if you aren’t affiliated with the College Democrats or College Republicans, whether you’re Green, Libertarian, communist, socialists, anything,’ Snider said. ‘No matter what your political affiliation, these rallies are for everyone.’ 

Snider and Levin organized the trip and secured the bus last Thursday. Snider said she felt there was a student desire to go to the rally, but the real issue was how to get there. Levin held a general interest meeting Thursday night to gage how many students would actually want to go. Twenty-five to 30 students came to the meeting, Snider said.

The students will travel seven and a half hours to arrive at the rallies. Once the event is over, the students will immediately return to campus, said Snider, a sophomore history and political science major.

Snider said she hopes the 55-seat bus is completely full and would have added another bus, but funding was unavailable.

The coach bus is being funded by the co-curricular student initiative fee, said Sylvia Langford, the vice president of student affairs for discovery and engagement.

Grant Reeher, a political science professor, said the rally could spur more voters to go out and cast their ballots come midterm elections next week.

‘It sounds like it can be a combination of a fun party with some stuff that will be pretty funny and entertaining with again the opportunity to think about things,’ he said.

One of the comedic twists Colbert is putting on his rally, ‘March to Keep Fear Alive,’ is encouraging spectators to dress up in Halloween costumes of their biggest fear. 

‘You got to hand it to them, it’s their First Amendment right to free speech,’ said Patrick Mocete, current chair of College Republicans.

But Mocete said he thinks the celebrity liberals’ representation of the anger expressed by some conservatives is wrong. 

‘People are upset for good reason,’ Mocete said.

Daniel Fitzpatrick, former chair and current member of College Republicans, said he would not be going to the rally because he does not have the time and does not support the left-wing views of Stewart and Colbert.

Fitzpatrick also said he found out about the rally through a listserv and thinks that makes it artificial.

‘In my view, this makes the rallies not ‘grass roots’ but ‘Astroturf,” he said in an e-mail. ‘Who wouldn’t want a free trip to D.C., regardless of political belief?’

dgproppe@syr.edu

 

 

Published on October 26, 2010 at 12:00 pm