Did Arianna Huffington just suggest she would consider voting for a republican on Maher?

[LeftyAndProud60]

I think she did. I can't wait till others turn on her. I've never cared for her.

[WCGreen]

1. Never trusted her ideology....

[Paladin]

2. Clumsy Series Of No-Class, Money-Grubbing Questions By Maher.

I'm generally not overly sympathetic to Huffington, but I was, tonight......

[DrToast]

3. You gotta be kidding me

She's a fraud.

[Pirate Smile]

4. She has been mainly anti-Obama for quite a while now. I'm not surprised.

[krawhitham]

16. She is on the side that gets her the most page views

and always has been

[tekisui]

20. Yeah. Folks who run websites generally tend to favor whatever get them the most clicks.

Site operators prefer controversy and flame wars.

[ReggieVeggie]

28. Huff Post was a major contributor to Obama being elected

oh yeah, she hates him

[jenmito]

5. YES! And she named Huntsman as someone she might vote for if he ran. n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

46. Then she says that she never really was left or right. What Arianna?

What??!?!?!

******

<snip>

Arianna Huffington and AOL's Tim Armstrong talk to Shira Lazar about their $315 million new media merger at the SignalLA conference in Los Angeles.

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Did Arianna Huffington just sell out her fellow progressives?

In the literal sense, she undoubtedly has: The sale of Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million (including a large pile of cash going to Huffington herself) means this powerful liberal voice is formally joining the "corporate media" its writers have long disparaged.

There are also some indications that she has sold out in the ideological sense and committed the Huffington Post to joining the mainstream media - the evil "MSM" of "HuffPo" blogger ire. Announcing the deal, she and her new boss went out of their way to say that the new Huffington Post would emphasize things other than the liberal politics on which the brand was built.

AOL Chairman Tim Armstrong said he thinks "Arianna has the same interest we do, which is serving consumers' needs and going beyond the just straight political needs of people." Huffington agreed, boasting that only 15 percent of her eponymous site's traffic is for politics (that's down from 50 percent a couple of years ago), and she emphasized that politics is just one of two dozen "sections," including a new one devoted to covering divorces.

"It's time for all of us in journalism to move beyond left and right," Huffington said Monday on PBS's "NewsHour." "Truly, it is an obsolete way of looking at the problems America is facing."

This transformation should come as no surprise to anybody who has followed Huffington's remarkable career. Greek-born and Cambridge-educated, she has always been on the move ideologically, from her early squabbles with feminism to her role as a minister with the new-age Movement for Spiritual Inner Awareness, from her membership in Newt Gingrich's brain trust to her stint as populist activist - all before her greatest act, the Huffington Post.

I say this with admiration. Huffington deserves every one of those millions she'll be paid by AOL for creating this online sensation. She was once derided as "the most upwardly mobile Greek since Icarus" because of her many well-connected friends, but Huffington has earned her place as one of the extraordinary personalities of our time: an entrepreneur and writer who is always chasing the next big idea, wherever it is on the ideological spectrum.

Yet this is also why Huffington and her Web site are unlikely to remain as they were. Anybody who expects her to continue as a reliable voice of the left is a poor student of Huffington history.

I first came across Huffington in 1995, when she was working at Gingrich's Progress and Freedom Foundation, preaching social consciousness to fellow conservatives. She railed against "big government" and pronounced: "We do our part and God meets us halfway. That's why I'm a conservative."

[e-mail]

Dana Milbank - Arianna Huffington's ideological transformation

</snip>

[boppers]

6. Wouldn't surprise me.

But heck, if my choices were a pro-life, homophobic, Democrat, or a pro-choice, gay friendly, Republican, that would certainly give me pause as to what the D and R stood for.

[FrenchieCat]

7. But can Ariana spare a dime?

That's the real question.

[ProSense]

8. Huffington has been playing people for years.

In fact, I think a lot of the flame throwers at Obama are secretly hoping the Republicans take back the WH.

All the crap about Obama being pro-corporate and serving the rich is cover. Not everyone who is rich is the same, but when you pretend you're some populist activist, railing against bank bailouts and the like, and then turn around and claim you're voting Republican, that's not just hypocrisy, it's downright deception.

[politicasista]

10. Bingo

Ok, they complain about every pol besides Kerry. You are right. :)

[impik]

24. Exactly. And we saw it coming a long time ago. So many so-called progressives

turned out to be not-very-smart.

[killbotfactory]

9. She sure cashed in on the anti-obama parade.

Maybe she's going to try and do the same with the tea party nitwits.

[applegrove]

11. Maher asked her if she would ever give up completely on Obama and

vote for a repuke, and if so who. It was his question. To her credit had to struggle to come up with a non answer to that question.

[CreekDog]

12. What? Another hit and run thread?

:shrug:

[LeftyAndProud60]

13. LOL. Are you Arianna Huffington? We're on to you Arianna. NT

[CreekDog]

14. came back did ya?

that's a rarity.

[Control-Z]

15. I've never been

a big fan. I can't remember the issue, but the first time I ever saw (or heard) her interviewed she rubbed me the wrong way. It's probably not fair of me to judge so harshly...

[mmonk]

17. No she was trying to answer Maher's question.

The question was is there any Republican alive she could possibly vote for if they ran.

[LeftyAndProud60]

18. The answer should of been "NO" or "HELL NO!" nt

[pennylane100]

22. I remember a republican named Pete McClosky in the SF bay area,

He was the most liberal republican ever. I think I would vote for someone like that against an anti choice blue dog.

[CreekDog]

23. Pete McCloskey ran in the 2006 primary against one of the worst Republicans, Richard Pombo

he lost.

the next election cycle, he endorsed Jerry McNerney (the Democrat) against Pombo.

McNerney won and McCloskey was at his victory party.

The thing is, even the good Republicans, they're Democrats now.

[karynnj]

32. He ran again Nixon in the 1972 primary - and endorsed Kerry in 2004

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_McCloskey

He was more liberal than a good number of Democrats, but he is not running in 2012. Was the question on her potential 2012 vote? If so, there is no one in the field like McClosky.

[impik]

19. Why are surprised? She is a fraud. The sad thing is

how many people ate her lie.

[tekisui]

21. For those of us without teevees, what was the context?

[ReggieVeggie]

35. context might screw up their righteous ranting

when Dems support Republicans, there's always an excuse...anybody else is just a Republican anyway

[CreekDog]

38. Bill Maher repeatedly asked Arianna if there was any Republican she could support

for a long time she didn't answer with a name and finally said, "I don't know enough about Jon Huntsman".

that's it. at least that's all i heard.

Maher was saying, "Obama's got us, right?" and she didn't really have much of a response to say he didn't except perhaps there's something we don't know.

To me, the exchange really didn't amount to much.

What's more important to me is that in this thread we were told something about what she said and in reality, that wasn't what she said at all.

It's that thing that I think is worth talking about.

If someone is saying they are angry at her because they think she lied to them, don't lie to me at the same time about what she said.

[Moral_Imagination]

25. She is a republican what else would she do? n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

26. In my business, we require exact quotes. Paraphrasing is not

acceptable testimony. So while I can not address your speculation due to my dislike of McCarthyite tactics, I will gladly remind you that Huffington was a Republican for years, she was married to a Republican elected official in fact. She hired the then unknown Van Jones to help smooth her right wing rep with Democrats. My first encounter with 'Green Jobs' Jones was him telling me why I should not care that his candidate had taken a deduction for cosmetics in excess of $23,000. He thought that was fine, because she is rich and very busy, and make up is expensive! Not to pay for a make up artist, no, for the stuff itself. 23K.
But you are not telling us what he asked, nor what she said, and that makes your OP-deal with it- a very Republican thing. Arch implication, low on fact, high on coy. I reject that tactic even against the likes of Ms Huffington.

[young but wise]

27. Well duh.

She is a Republican.

[polichick]

29. Well, her history shows that she's an opportunist who changes with the wind...

Not unlike most of the politicians she talks about.

[AngryAmish]

41. She is an astute watcher of the political winds

Normally I do not ascribe a monetary motive to everyone. People have a range of motivations and money is not the sole motivator. This is neither good nor bad, just is human nature.

BUT

There is more money and attention being a political contrarian. Not in the LaRouche way, but the party out of power has more juice. People are more motivated. Free Republic under Clinton, this place under Bush.

She is a striver, a seeker and wants to think she has special insight into the world. Remember she was involved in all sorts of weird religious things? Anyway, essentially she has no permanent principles. Just the flag of the day.

[Phx_Dem]

30. Well, that's just shocking!! Not.

Arianna's always been a Republican. She pretends to give a shit about the "middle class" card in order to get suckers to follow her and read her web site. That's also why she posts every television appearance on her web site.

She's a media whore

[JoePhilly]

31. Would not be surprised. nt

[KharmaTrain]

33. Stir The Pot, Get The Clicks...

I applaud Arianna for making a big haul...it's the "American way" in action. She took the risk in setting up HuffPo, worked her ass off to make it successful and now is not cashing out as much as cashing in. She helped create one of the more popular websites...there's more on there than just politics...and I see AOL needing her a lot more than she needs AOL. As one that's had similar experiences but on a far, far smaller scale, it's not easy to sell one's "baby" but sets the stage for the next level or challenge.

That said...I really don't care much about what Arianna has to say. The reason the HuffPo got to where it was at was her ability to pull chains and get attention. She's thrived as being a contrarian...a "liberal" when the rushpublicans were in power or on the rise and a "libertarian" when it was the other way around. Either way she generates controversy and attention. This is about style, not substance as that is constantly in flux, but the style is solid as a rock.

Many are hand ringing that somehow this sale and money will turn HuffPo into some right wing haven. Doubtful...this lady knows who her paying customers are and it would be a major waste of AOL's much needed money to piss that much money down the rathole.

[Drunken Irishman]

34. Why is this a surprise? Huffington is like Brian Griffin in that Rush Limbaugh Family Guy episode...

Have any of you seen that episode? Brian Griffin becomes a right-wing conservative because, as Rush teaches him, he's got to be anti-establishment. With a Democratic President, House and Senate (this aired before the election), he needed to rebel. So he became a Republican.

Lots of people are in this position. They're so anti-establishment that they've got to take on the extreme opposite view point to validate their current feelings.

Huffington has been against Obama since day one. Just as she was against Bush and before that, was against Clinton!

Anyone seeing a trend?

[Pisces]

36. Ariana is no different from Cenk, Ed, Hannity, O'Reilly et. al. They get paid for controversy. It

pays to be against Obama right now. She goes where the ratings go. These people are entertainers. We keep thinking they are news people and they are not. Come 2012 they will be back in the fold
for the win, and then turning on the Pres. 4 to 6 mo. later.

Disgusting but true.

[CreekDog]

37. no she didn't say that and the reason you didn't quote her is because you know she didn't say that

:rofl:

[LeftyAndProud60]

43. A real liberal wouldn't even have to think about it. NT

[CreekDog]

47. again, why won't you quote her accurately? didn't you just completely make up that OP?

the fact that you wouldn't quote her means you are misleading here and when asked why you won't quote her accurately, you won't answer.

here's what she said:

(Maher asks her if there's any Republican she could vote for and she pauses)

"Well who knows who is going to be running in 2012?

(Maher then asks if there is any Republican alive that she would vote for)

"I don't know enough about Jon Huntsman who just stepped down as our ambassador in Beijing."

(Maher says "you won't vote for him")

Huffington says, "I'm not saying I would...you don't know if there are going to be third party candidates, i mean this is the time if unemployment stays over 9% anything can happen...although today we must give Obama credit, he was pitch-perfect. what he said about the need for genuine democracy, not just a state of affairs aligned with American interests, that was Obama at his best...other times when he speaks the wrong priorities: health care over jobs, debt over growth, nation-building in afghanistan over nation building at home, that's when he loses me."

[lunatica]

39. She was obsessed with Clinton's penis in the 90s

Just saying

[davidpdx]

40. She IS a Republican

There are many people on here who have been duped into believing she and her rag blog are a legitimate news source. So apparently has AOL who first the second time merged with a company they are going to regret doing business with.

[Old Troop]

42. Never believe these people. Rush would become a raving communist

if the money was right and Ariana changes with the wind (and dollars).

[JVS]

44. She was a republican before Al Franken converted her. Maybe she's going back.

[socialist_n_TN]

48. OK, this is the fifth post that has said that she's a Republican.............

I had THOUGHT that the first time I'd heard her name in politics was in connection with Reagan somehow in the 80s, which of course, would have made her a Republican. But for the last decade or so, she seems to have been connected with the more left side of the political spectrum. This made me doubt my original impression that she was a Republican.

So is Ariana a Dem or a Rep? Or an opportunist? Or all three?

[JVS]

49. Wait. I'm not saying she's a republican. I didn't see the segment of the show.

What I'm saying, and what I know, is that there was a time when Huffington and Franken were opponents in a Crossfire type show and that in the 1990s she was supportive of the Republicans. Read the wiki on her.

[CreekDog]

50. Stop buying into the OP as an accurate quote of what she said UNTIL YOU VERIFY IT

please!

it's pretty much the last 3 minutes of the interview and it's quite different than the OP characterized it.

and that difference means that we shouldn't be arguing over Arianna but over why the OP is misleading.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/12/arianna-bill-maher-moviefone-video_n_822302.html

:hi:

[JVS]

51. I'm not buying anything. I'm offering backgrounf info/fuel to the speculation.

[CreekDog]

52. i know

i just don't like how someone can say something and everyone runs with it.

sometimes the thing said wasn't actually said.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

45. Yep. Remember that she never liked Obama. From Day #1, she went after him for everything.

I don't like her. And I don't like Cenk Ungar or Jane Hamsher.

To hear Stephanie Miller and others on the left--except for Randi Rhodes--praising Arianna for being a corporate sellout, and then turn around and accuse Obama of the same, is just baffling!!!!

Never trusted her. Never liked her.

[stevenleser]

53. In her defense. It's probably not a good idea for the new head of a news agency to say

in no uncertain terms that she would never vote for anyone put up by one party.

Imagine how AOL News would be regarded after that.