I was there, too. With a busload from Union Country, NJ. Grannies, teachers, even a Republican. And many first-time marchers. And on the way home, we realized we were a small microcosm of sorts. Like everyone we saw there. Like the march on the RNC in New York last year, this wasn't a compilation of "fringe" elements, but was instead a cross-section of "mainstream" Americans.
Forget the estimates. The turnout was extraordinary.
Let me point out something more critical: everyone I talked to on my bus said he or she was representing at least ten of his friends. There was a strong sense of that "representation" concept. People attended who could spare the time, who were in better health, or just felt more compelled -- but they all stood tall for people in their own towns, communities, professional circles. And guess what we felt--what was the overriding emotion? We felt patriotic. We felt like what we were: Americans.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling