Pubdate: Tue, 01 Aug 2000 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 2000 The Seattle Times Company Contact: P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 Fax: (206) 382-6760 Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: Kevin Galvin, Seattle Times Washington Bureau SHADOW CONVENTION SAYS IT WILL ILLUMINATE ISSUES Miles from the Republican National Convention site, a small group of activists and media personalities is staging daily forums on poverty, the drug war and campaign finance, hoping to divert the spotlight to issues they say the GOP has chosen to overlook. Part seminar, part political cabaret, the "Shadow Convention" aims to upstage this year's major conventions and point out what the activists say is the failure of Republicans and Democrats alike to tackle critical issues. "We're hoping to get these issues on the national agenda in a serious way - beyond the sound bites," said Arianna Huffington, conservative columnist and onetime GOP doyenne who has recast herself as an outsider and is playing hostess at the events. The Shadow Conventions - which will continue during the Democrats' gathering in Los Angeles later this month - have brought Huffington together with some unlikely partners, including Public Campaign, Common Cause and The Lindesmith Center, a drug-policy group funded by billionaire George Soros. Organizers say they were motivated largely by a conviction that the timidity of the major party conventions is directly related to their reliance on big-money donors, who spend lavishly at convention time on receptions, cruises and golf outings. "This big money that is being showcased at the conventions is being provided by the same folks, a who's who of corporate America, who are getting unprecedented access to elected officials," said Scott Harshbarger, president of Common Cause. Harshbarger maintains that it's no accident that poverty, the drug war and especially campaign finance aren't front and center at convention time. "The people who advocate these issues don't have the money to buy access," he said. "They aren't paying to play." Day One of the Shadow Convention seemed full of promise when Huffington introduced Arizona Sen. John McCain, who broke with his party to attend and speak out for campaign-finance reform. Journalists and camera crews jockeyed for space on a two-tiered riser Sunday. Delegates whose signs identified them as representing the "Disappointed" or "Not a PAC Donor" spilled into the aisles. The jeering that greeted McCain's vocal support for Bush was probably the sole sign of disagreement that will be evident on a convention floor this week. But by yesterday morning, the energy seemed to be ebbing, the glamour losing its glimmer. With the main event getting under way across town and thousands of protesters for the poor marching to the GOP convention site, the auditorium on the University of Pennsylvania campus was half-empty. Only two camera crews arrived - one from an obscure dot.com site. Harshbarger and Ellen Miller of Public Campaign railed against the campaign-finance system. The 350 or so attendees chanted "Go Granny Go!" to welcome a 90-year-old woman who had walked coast to coast to raise awareness about the influence of money in politics. Still, the session seemed as insular as its organizers find the main conventions to be. Not a hint of disappointment registered on Huffington's face as she fixed some 400 listeners with a sterling smile. Away from the stage, she noted that the event was packaged for the Web and satellite feeds and predicted today's panel on the failures of the drug war would be a bigger draw. It features the Rev. Jesse Jackson and New Mexico's GOP governor, Gary Johnson, who favors decriminalization of marijuana. Huffington, author, columnist and onetime confidante of Newt Gingrich, has faced a few slings and arrows in her new role. Critics suggest the former wife of Michael Huffington, who left Congress and spent $30 million on a failed U.S. Senate bid in California, is merely seeking a spotlight for herself. "I don't need any recognition," she said in a brief interview yesterday. But there's no question that she's getting plenty of attention, whether she's presenting the guests at the Shadow Convention in the morning or playing straight woman to political satirist Al Franken in the afternoon. Yesterday, Huffington and Co. were hosting a bash at a downtown restaurant. Throughout the week, Franken and comedian Harry Shearer, in league with Lewis Lapham of Harper's, Matt Cooper of Time magazine and other columnists, were offering mocking analyses of the GOP proceedings. But for all the lighthearted attempts to generate interest in their event, Huffington and her fellow organizers were addressing serious issues. Despite the theme of the GOP's first convention night, "Leave No Child Behind," and the Democrats' advocacy of improved education for all, the activists are convinced that neither Al Gore nor George W. Bush would deliver. Huffington seemed particularly skeptical of Bush's "compassionate conservativism." "In reality, he's changing the rhetoric and keeping the governing philosophy," she said. But, she added quickly, "I don't believe Gore is any more compassionate than Bush. I think Gore even sounds less authentic than Bush. "I'm voting for none of the above," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D