@Cycloptichorn,
Personally, I have never participated in any kind of demonstration. The main reasons are because I have been too busy doing what needed done in order to be a responsible citizen, going to school, working, and raising a family. It has always puzzled me why liberal activists thought it was so necessary to march around with signs to proclaim some radical or leftist cause. For leftists, I think it made them feel worthwhile, that they were somehow doing something great.
The closest I have ever considered going to a rally was seeing the Tea Party people and reading in the local paper about them. They were normal, upstanding citizens, and many are well respected business owners in the community that had never participated before in a rally.