Ask Arianna Huffington

Do you think the Electoral College system is fair?

Would you vote for Alec Baldwin for Mayor of New York?

How do you think the innovation of blogging has changed the process of reporting? Does the quantity of blogs reduce the credibility of their information?

Why did you cross the AFSCME picket line to be a commencement speaker at UC?

On the Living Page of your blog, there seems to be a strong focus on spirituality. In your world, how do you combine ethereality with politics?

First, I love huffingtonpost.com and I thank you for created this increasingly popular place where people can share their views and opinions. Congratulations.

My question is:

"You often state John McCain is not the maverick he was in 2002, that McCain is not the same candidate today and his positions have flucuated at best. Do you think there is room today for a politician to change their positions on important issues without being negatively reffered to as a flip-flopper?"

You used to be referred to as "the beautiful, but evil, Arianna Huufington." since your change of sides, do you miss that title, and is there any chance that other conservatives can be awakened?

Many people, especially women, say that sexism played a role in Obama's winning the Democratic nomination, and that they will vote for McCain as a result. Do you think this is an overly emotional reaction that will change over the coming weeks? Could the Rove machine be playing up this reaction, for example by feeding the media and posting on blogs?

Isn't the real reason Obama won the nomination the fact that he ran up a string of primary victories when the public's focus was on the candidates' vote on the Iraq war?

Did Obama make a mistake in promising to agree to public financing if he could come to terms with the Republicans, knowing full well at the time that they had no legal way to curtail the activities of the 527 organizations?

What are the top 3 campaign issues you would raise if you were each of the presidential candidates?

What was the reason that caused you to change from conservative to liberal beliefs, was there one specific issue?

I was (and still am) a fan of CNN and Anderson Cooper, et al. But I agree with your book that CNN seems to be going out of its way to present "fair and balanced" (yuck) reporting even when their right-wing guests fly in the face of "truth and common sense. " In your opinion, is this just a temporary tactic to reclaim market share from Faux News or is CNN's management going permanently flaky? Also, any chance of returning as a guest of Bill Maher?

Thank you so much for Huffingtonpost.com. You present the most even-handed mix of columnists/bloggers of any site I have found. During the primary, I was happy to see your site did not join the knee-jerk, petty Hillary bashing I found elsewhere.
Question: "Do you think Hillary would be a viable VP candidate or has her campaign been too damaged by negative media coverage?"

Given your role in recognizing how we all can play a significant part in changing environmental and energy perceptions and policies, specifically by ushering in the new "Green" focal point at Huffington Post, would you please provide some detail as to how you have attempted to define and reduce your personal carbon footprint at your primary residence?

You've "looked at things from both sides now" -- where do you honestly feel there is hope for true bipartisan cooperation?

What is your greatest hope from an Obama presidency?

How do you think the candidates will address and respond to issues of race and racism (and even perhaps gender, depending on the VP selection) during the general election campaign? How will these sensitivities inform the substance and tone of the election?

All media is biased. Is this the way it should be or should we hope for a return to objective news reporting?

Should telecommunications companies be enlisted to spy on citizens?

If you were Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid, what would you be doing differently?

Arianna, thank you for Huffpo. It is somewhat addicting and even its expansion to other spaces has made it somewhat like one stop shopping!
My question:

Now that it appears the oil in Iraq was the major reason for occupying that country, how do you think the American people will or should handle that in terms of the '08 election and any national security 'surprises' the republican right may throw at us in October?

If we are really going to try to fix America's problems, shouldn't we start by taking control of our own money and eliminating the privately held Federal Reserve from the equation? They are merely "printers" anyway. 800 billion out of thin air! Seems like we could at least manage that ourselves.

Why is the notion of 'patriotism' primarily identified along militaristic lines? Isn't paying taxes patriotic? Raising and educating productive children? Volunteering at local schools, libraries, hospitals? Founding museums? Conducting discussion groups? Going on mission trips to Native American reservations? And so much more that people who have never served in the military - and, of course, those who have - do every day to contribute to the commonwealth.

In a recent appearance at the Commonwealth club, you were asked, essentially, 'what changed your mind, at what point did you leave the conservative fold?', to which you responded by citing a comment Newt Gingrich left on an article you wrote. He called the article 'strategically counterproductive'. Given that and other examples, I understand why you left the Republican party, but I don't understand why that precipitated your conservative view points changing. Was it merely political and professional expediency, or something more? How can Sen. Obama and/or the Democratic party facilitate more Americans making a similar, fundamental switch?

Where did you pick up that accent? I certainly can't recall or recognize its cultural origin.