Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190
Fax: (408) 271-3792
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Russ Baker, New York Times

A JOURNEY TO THE LEFT

LOS ANGELES -- Political insiders may debate the motivations behind the
latest evolutionary twist in the remarkable life of Arianna Huffington, but
one thing is certain: Huffington understands the element of surprise. She
stood by her desk in her elegant, sun-dappled home office on a perfect
Southern California morning early last week, talking about her latest and
indisputably biggest adventure.

Up on a landing a library wall panel swung open, revealing a hidden room. A
young woman popped out, and then a second entered from another part of the
house.

``How many people can you fit in a Volkswagen?'' Huffington said delightedly
in her Greek-with-a-touch-of-London accent, as she settled into a gold
brocade sofa.

Huffington explained that she had converted a guest bedroom off the landing
into an office for the two staff members and the handful of paid interns
helping her and a coalition of citizens' groups stage a happening certain to
give fits to Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush -- a
milestone of sorts on Huffington's dizzying political journey from right to
left.

This summer, as the Republican and Democratic parties hold their national
conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, Huffington and the Internet
impresario Peter Hirshberg aim to ``give voice to millions of Americans
currently shut out of the national debate.''

Huffington has managed to harness herself and her unusual ability to
generate buzz on three issues whose solutions have eluded Democrats and
Republicans alike: the tainted campaign finance system, the growing income
gap and the costly war on drugs.

Huffington has proven expert at getting attention for causes -- including
herself -- during a varied career as socialite, politician's wife, author
and columnist. To publicize the second or ``shadow'' conventions that will
highlight her pet concerns, she called on media favorites like Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

She joined with citizen advocacy groups like Common Cause, and tapped her
friends, including actors Warren Beatty and Ron Silver and comedian Bill
Maher. She helped raise $400,000 in seed money from such disparate sources
as billionaire philanthropist George Soros' non-profit Open Society
Institute and the Pew Charitable Trust, and got promises of ice cream from
Ben & Jerry's.

``She's providing fresh and new ideas in a very thoughtful and very
provocative way,'' McCain said.

Others are more skeptical. ``It's easy for someone who has maids making her
beds to talk about voiceless Americans,'' said Bob Mulholland, a California
Democratic Party official.

People may argue about why a former right-wing conservative, who once
counted herself among Newt Gingrich's most loyal friends and admirers, is
now encouraging her troops to lob grenades at the establishment. But no one
can dispute that this is one determined woman.

Her background

Huffington's life has been one of constant motion, and regular reinvention.
Born Arianna Stassinopoulos, she grew up in modest circumstances in and
around Athens, became a stellar debater at Cambridge and soon wrote her
first book, a critique of feminism, and a second, prescribing a spiritual
revolution as an antidote to an empty, materialistic society. She landed in
New York in 1980, and wrote a controversial best seller about the opera
legend Maria Callas and then a harsh denunciation of Picasso.

While living in California, she was introduced by socialite Ann Getty to
Michael Huffington, the shy son of a self-made oil millionaire, and they
married and settled in Washington.

Although dismissed by some as a gold digger, Huffington showed
resourcefulness when it became apparent that Michael Huffington's income as
an arms-control negotiator for President George Bush was insufficient to
support their lifestyle and that his real worth was bound up in stock in the
family firm. She went on the lecture circuit to pay the bills for their
Georgetown home and staff.

In 1992, Michael Huffington won a seat in the House from Santa Barbara.
Within two years, he had made a bid for the Senate, spending nearly $30
million of his own money in a failed effort against Democratic Sen. Dianne
Feinstein. The seemingly reticent candidate often seemed overshadowed by his
dynamic wife, who virtually directed the vitriolic campaign.

Arianna Huffington turned her attention to her column, cheerleading for the
conservative Contract With America and becoming a power hostess.

Television beckoned. Between frequent spots on ``Politically Incorrect,''
she started her own think tank, the Center for Effective Compassion. It
stressed private charity, rather than government aid, for helping the poor.
The group fizzled, and so did her marriage. Michael Huffington revealed his
homosexuality in a 1999 Esquire profile.

Three years ago, the Huffingtons relocated to separate houses in Los
Angeles.

Political about-face

In California, her views shifted leftward. Soon, as in Washington, her home
became a salon. The Capitol Hill and think tank types were replaced by
Beatty and Pat Caddell, a Jimmy Carter pollster and now a consultant for
television's ``West Wing.''

Huffington's new crowd is a whole lot more left, filled, for example, with
correspondents for the Nation magazine, who have been openly squabbling with
colleagues over whether Huffington's change of heart is to be trusted.

Robert Scheer, the liberal Los Angeles Times columnist who has been a
regular sparring partner of Huffington in print and on radio for years,
said: ``If Arianna were a man, there would be no attacks on her whatsoever.
Sure, she's shifted her views. Sure, she's inconsistent. Sure, she likes to
be on TV. But I find her one of the brightest, most decent and
hardest-working people involved in media.''
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