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Organizers of Portland's "Rally to Restore Sanity" have found a new location to hold their demonstration later this month.
The original local site was under the west side of the Morrison Bridge. But organizers say they're moving the Oct. 30 event to the Eastbank Esplanade Festival Plaza on the east side of the river to accommodate a larger crowd—up to 5,000 people. The event coincides with a larger national rally organized that same day by The Daily Show 's Jon Stewart in Washington, DC.
The noon rally in Portland will feature booths, speakers, and live footage of Stewart's rally on the National Mall in DC. According to a Facebook event page, more than 1,200 people already plan to attend the Portland event.
Organizers hope to raise $5,000 to cover costs of electricity, a stage, and an army of portable toilets. Any money left over from the fund-raising will be funneled to Southeast Portland neighborhood organization City Repair. Organizers have raised $795 so far, according to their fundraising website.
Stewart's idea arose in response to Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" summer hootenanny that, according to CBS news, drew about 87,000 people to the National Mall in Washington DC. On Oct. 30, thousands of people on the other side of the political fence will travel across the country to watch Stewart give a very different speech overlooking the iconic "I Have a Dream" landscape.
But for those who can't travel across the country, there should now be plenty of room in Portland.
The noon rally in Portland will be preceded by an 11 am March to Keep Fear Alive, which dovetails with Stephen Colbert's mock-protest of Stewart's rally.
WWeek 2015