Huffington: Governor and Columnist?

By: Dave Astor Arianna Huffington has put her syndicated column on hold temporarily as she runs for governor of California. Will she drop the feature if she wins the Oct. 7 election? Not necessarily.

"I might continue the column," Huffington told E&P Online Thursday. "That would break new ground!"

Tribune Media Services distributes Huffington to more than 50 newspapers, including California ones such as the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and The San Diego Union-Tribune, according to TMS Director of Media Relations Kristy Bremer.

Huffington, who entered the race as an independent Aug. 6, is running on a platform featuring many of the themes espoused in her TMS column. "There will be no negative ads and no polls," she said, by way of example. Issues stressed by Huffington will include trying to end tax loopholes, pointing out "the disastrous impact of Bush economic policy on California," and preserving the environment. She is co-founder of The Detroit Project, which focuses on how gas-guzzling SUVs not only affect the environment but increase U.S. dependence on oil from countries directly or indirectly involved with terrorism.

Her work on that and other projects has stirred some debate about the line between journalism and activism. "I suppose this is the next leap," she said, referring to her gubernatorial run. Other candidates in the race, which resulted from the effort to recall incumbent Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, include Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Can Huffington, who has become much more liberal in recent years, have greater impact as a candidate than a columnist? She replied that the campaign can help her reach people who don't read her column or books. Her ninth and latest book is Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America.

What does a TMS executive think about all this? "From my perspective, she's a terrific candidate," said Vice President/Domestic Syndication Walter Mahoney, adding that if Huffington wins and decides to drop out of syndication, "we'll miss her column and so will her readers."