Stewart and Colbert's DC Rally Draws 215K

Oct. 31, 2010— -- The numbers are in on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, and it appears that a whopping 215,000 people attended the gathering Saturday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The crowd estimate was supplied by AirPhotosLive.com, who was commissioned by CBS News. The company, which based the estimate on aerial pictures taken over the rally, said there is a margin of error of 10 percent.

The last time a group rallied on the national mall was this summer when Fox News commentator Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally drew an estimated 87,000 attendees, according to AirPhotosLive.com.

After the event, the Comedy Central hosts said they are entertainers and the rally was not meant to be political.

Despite their disclaimers, the rally was in many ways a rebuke to Beck's rally, held just blocks away two months ago. Dominated by skits on "sanity," racial diversity and religious tolerance, the comedians blasted the press and pundits as they handed out comedic "Fear" awards.

"This was not a rally to ridicule people's faith or people's activism ... or suggest that times are not difficult or that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies," the "Daily Show" host said.

"Sanity will always be and always has been in the eye of the beholder," Stewart said. "Seeing you here today and the kinds of people you are has restored mine."

Though the rally, taking place just days before the midterm elections,Was billed as an opportunity for people to air frustrations withAmerican politics and the media, Stewart had claimed that the event wasmeant as a satirical comedy event rather than a serious politicalrally.