Five Minutes With: Arianna Huffington
Monday April 17, 2006
Arianna Huffington is no stranger to the oddities of politics. A former conservative, Huffington served as the right-wing side of the debate against liberal Al Franken on Comedy Central’s coverage of the 1996 Presidential race. Awakened to progressive ideals (with a little help from Franken), Huffington has become a progressive pundit and editor of The Huffington Post, a massive group weblog that, just before its first birthday, receives over two million visitors a month. The former spouse of a U.S. Senator, Huffington herself has engaged in the electoral process, running in the infamous California Governor’s race of 2003 and placing fifth (beating Hustler publisher Larry Flynt by just over 30,000 votes).
Campus Progress had an e-mail chat with Arianna about celebrities, viral video, and what to expect from a Huffington presidency.
 Congratulations on your one year anniversary that is coming up in May! A year out, any big surprises?
The relentlessness of keeping up with a 24/7 news cycle.
Could you isolate any specific moments or incidents that influenced your move away from conservatism?
My disillusionment with all the empty rhetoric from Gingrich and company about remembering the biblical admonition that we will be judged by how we deal with the least among us.
What are the odds that you might switch back again to being conservative? What would it take?
A lobotomy.
Was it awesome getting your hair done by Shane on “The L-Word”? How did you get an appearance on that show? Is it hard to play yourself on TV?
It was awesome! Even the cafe latte was good. Playing yourself on TV can be hard, but only if you try too hard to stay in character.
If you could put together a few celebrities to be part of an all-celebrity blogging “A-Team” (that HuffPo doesn’t currently work with), who would you pick?
I guess saying George Clooney would just be inviting trouble, right? Okay, then give me Bruce Springsteen, Chris Rock, James Gandolfini, Carrie Fisher, and Katie Holmes (who wouldn’t want to read that one?)
HuffPo recently sponsored a viral media contest. What are your favorite popular bits of viral media? Are you a “Lazy Sunday” fan or more of a “Numa Numa Dance” person?
I loved them both. In fact, I’m working on a “Lazy/Numa Numa” mashup.
There were some recent rumors that Maureen Dowd will leave the New York Times to do a column on Huffington Post. Over the last few months, she’s been at the center of quite a bit of media attention, how do you respond to all of it?
I hadn’t heard that rumor. Oh, wait.. that’s right, I started that rumor. Maureen is great. It’s just too bad that the Times has put her in the TimesSelect gulag.
If you were able to run for President, what would your cornerstone issues be?
Ending the war in Iraq, ending the War on Drugs here at home, and ending the crippling influence of Big Money on our politics (fix that and so many other issues would fall into place)
You have often lambasted the “spineless press.” Do you see a way out of this journalistic quagmire?
Yes, it’s called the blogosphere.
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Comments
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You should have gotten her take on the incipid link this administration has loosely tethered from 9/11 to its immigration tactics, or, more plainly, persecution of Natives by generations of hostile, invasive aliens. Aside from that, great show!
— CovertRage - Apr 25, 10:16 AM - #