Progressives rally supporters at ‘One Nation’ march in DC

Progressives, unions, civil rights groups and their supporters from around the country converged in Washington Saturday for the "One Nation Working Together" march, designed to inspire and re-energize progressives one month out from Election Day.

Under the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, speakers, including the head of the AFL-CIO, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Van Jones and others, urged progressives to get involved in this year's election in order to support jobs, immigration, public schools, unions, and other issues of importance to their community.

"This is no time to back down. This is time to fight for America," Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC said in the rally's opening speech, the Associated Press reports.

The AP and USA Today put crowd estimates for Saturday's event in the thousands.

Some participants characterized Saturday's march as a response to Fox host Glenn Beck's Tea Party rally on the National Mall, USA Today reports. Beck's rally, held in August, dwarfed Saturday's event in terms of size.

Even so, progressives believe the event, which also spurred smaller coinciding events around the country, effectively set the tone for the final 30 days of the election.

"This is an important moment in the progressive movement - as each person returns home and continues to rally our fellow Americans as we head to the ballot box in November and re-commit ourselves to our common future," One Nation campaign director Leah Daughtry said in a statement Saturday.

(Photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite)