Jon Stewart’s “restoring Sanity” rally on the mall in Washington, D.C. tomorrow wasn’t supposed to be political based on what Stewart himself has said but attendees are planning for a liberal love fest and the mainstream media will be playing along.

From the New York Times

Jon Stewart insists that his “Rally to Restore Sanity” planned for the National Mall on Saturday is not political. But just about everything surrounding the event is.

Interviews with some of the tens of thousands of people expected to attend suggest that they want a message, not a simple comedy show. Liberal groups like Media Matters and Naral Pro-Choice America will be out in force to attract new members and even Organizing for America, President Obama’s political organization, wants to draw attendees to phone banks set up near the Mall.

Tracie Lewis Kinard, 36, from Mobile, Ala., said that when she heard about the rally, “I felt like my way of thinking was finally being represented.”

She is spending about $750 on a flight and two nights at a hotel. It is worth it, she said. “For one moment, the moderates will be the news.”

Mr. Stewart has always dismissed suggestions that his satiric commentary on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” has any influence over the political process. But coming on the heels of the large Glenn Beck rally on the Mall in August, his event is a new high-wire act for him and his late-night comedy partner, Stephen Colbert: the huge crowd — observed by a horde of news media representatives — anticipated at noon on Saturday is expecting not only to be entertained, but also to be stirred.

While the event is pitched to moderates of all political persuasions, Mr. Stewart is known for having a progressive audience. In interviews, some people who plan to attend said it might bolster the spirits of Democrats on the eve of a midterm election that is expected to carry a surge of Republicans to Washington.

“To the extent that people are showing up because of their enthusiasm for the message behind the rally — that is, discontent with extremist rhetoric and divisive politics — that is a political statement, and that makes their participation political,” said Lauren Feldman, an assistant professor of communication at American University, who specializes in examining the nexus of entertainment and politics.

Mr. Stewart declined interview requests and has offered little description of what is planned. He also has apparently lowered a cone of silence over members of his staff and executives at Comedy Central, which will broadcast the rally live.

More than 1,000 individuals applied for press credentials, but the list was whittled down to 400. “We tried to be as accommodating as possible, and when we could not grant credentials, we encouraged people who didn’t get credentials to just come, because it is a free public event,” said Craig Minassian, a former Clinton administration press aide who is a consultant to Comedy Central and is helping produce the rally.

An early rundown of the event, shared by the National Parks Service, which issued the permit for the event, listed a first hour dominated by musical acts (including The Roots), with Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert performing largely in the second hour, and more musicians (including Sheryl Crow) and a taped, fake-awards conclusion in the third hour. Other guest stars are likely to appear. One on the list is Don Novello, who played Father Guido Sarducci years ago on “Saturday Night Live.” He is expected to offer an opening comic benediction, almost surely intended as a parody of the religious-themed rally headed by Mr. Beck.

Mr. Beck’s “Restore Honor” rally, held on Aug. 28, the anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, was the inspiration for Mr. Stewart’s event.

“To me, Stewart is almost saying, it’s so ludicrous that Glenn Beck has done this on the same spot as Martin Luther King that I can show how ludicrous it is by getting people to come from all over the country to watch me tell some jokes,” said Joe Cutbirth, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia (who, like Ms. Feldman, is traveling to Washington for the rally).

Amber Day, from Bryant University in Rhode Island, who will also be attending the rally, said the political basis for the event was inescapable. “I think Jon is being cagey,” said Ms. Day whose book, “Satire and Dissent,” will be published in February. “What he wants to say is, it’s not partisan. He wants to preserve his persona of just being the guy at the back of the class throwing spitballs.”

Coming just three days before the mid-term elections it would be almost impossible for any reasonable person to not conclude that the true goal of the rally is to close the “enthusiasm gap” that the Democrats have been suffering from and make one last attempt to get out the vote in an attempt to avoid a disaster on Tuesday.

Several weeks ago many of the major news media organizations issued a preemptive strike against their employees banning them from attending the rally in a thinly veiled effort to shield themselves from potential accusations of liberal bias as they cover the rally.

Stewart could have easily done what Beck did and request that no signs be brought to the rally and devote his program to a non political cause or organization but instead he has let the liberals run amok and turn the event into a giant Democrat organizing event.

With Arianna Huffington paying for 200 buses from New York to bring people to the rally and Oprah paying for Stewart’s audience to come as well there is little doubt how the media is likely to spin the event.

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