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Why Do People Attend Political Rallies? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

At least in this post, I'm not advocating for any particular political position; I mean for this to be a more generalized discussion.

I have never understood what prompts people to attend political rallies. None of the current US political candidates 100% align with my views, but I am very confident that I made the right choice in who I voted for. That is to say, I'd consider myself a strong supporter of [name here].

To me, it feels like attending a political rally is like attending a college lecture. You have a person giving you information, but you don't gain anything by hearing it in-person as opposed to reading it or watching a recording. If I want to learn something, it's much more comfortable for me to read and article or watch a video in the comfort of my own home. If I want to understand what a political candidate stands for, I'd much rather watch a recording of a town-hall meeting or read something she (oops) wrote rather than taking the time to drive to a rally, get packed in with a bunch of other people, and simply stand and listen.

I understand concerts. Hearing live music sounds vastly different than listening to a recording. Same with movies; most of us don't have an IMAX theater at home. When you're trying to gather information, though, what's the draw in standing outside in a crowd at listening to it in person?

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I get what you're saying, I think there's something to hearing it from the horse's mouth. However, yeah most people don't go to have their opinions changed, now they go to cheer and chant and show support.

However, I'll also say, in these smaller states, there really isn't a lot of going on. A politician is essentially a celebrity to a lot of people, and so having a big event like that in your town of 15,000 is a pretty big deal.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's true, I wouldn't travel 100 miles to attend one but if it happened 5 miles from me and I liked the candidate I might go for the novelty.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

It's like attending a concert. An additional similarity is I wouldn't attend any of the popular bands' but might even travel a bit to see one of the indies.

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