A Hybrid in a Field of Hummers

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Arianna Huffington is the front-running independent candidate for governor in California's upcoming recall election. Her campaign is the latest development in a fascinating 10-year journey from compassionate conservative -- she once spoke at a Republican congressional retreat -- to progressive populist.

An author and nationally syndicated columnist, Huffington was born in Greece, graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics, and moved to America in 1980. She has published nine books, the most recent of which is a scathing attack on the failures of corporate America, Pigs At The Trough: How Corporations Are Stealing Democracy. She was formerly married to conservative congressman Michael Huffington, and currently lives with her two daughters in Los Angeles.

Huffington took a break from her whirlwind campaign tour recently to speak with Utne Online's Joel Stonington.

Here at the Utne office we've been passing around your new Hybrid vs. the Hummer ad. How has the response been?

We just launched it yesterday, and I hear the response has been great. What it does is what the Internet has done for us, which is to help us reach tens of thousands of people without spending millions of dollars. It is part of the populist nature of the campaign. I like to use satire in my columns and speeches; here again the Hybrid vs. the Hummer uses satire to make very important points about oil dependence and renewable energy that is done in a way that is humorous and therefore engages people.

Why do you think Cruz Bustamante has taken the lead in the polls?

I must repeat that I think these polls are very meaningless. It depends on what polls you look at; there are some that have Arnold ahead; there are some that have Cruz ahead. They only poll likely voters and nobody knows who is going to vote in this election. They have already had unprecedented new registrations.

You've taken a big part in that haven't you?

Yes. This is really the heart and soul of my campaign. Appealing to the 13 million eligible voters who didn't vote in the last election. I don't believe we will ever be able to restore our democracy and take California back unless at least a sizable majority of those 13 million comes back into the process. I believe this is absolutely critical. That is why we are starting our college tour on Monday and why we have a huge registration drive, and that's why you can register on our web site. We don't go to any events without registration forms. And again, that is what distinguishes my campaign from the traditional insider Democratic and Republican campaign. They never really deal with unlikely voters because they don't believe that it is cost effective.

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