PR

Revolution by photo op

by Camille Dodero

Last month in her syndicated column, Arianna Huffington dismissed a January 10 speech given by Al Gore at the United Nations as "certainly a nice photo op, if nothing else." So when Huffington staged a "dirty money" protest at the site of the original Boston Tea Party this past Tuesday afternoon to hype her new book, How To Overthrow the Government (HarperCollins), it seemed fitting. The event was certainly a nice photo op -- the impeccably coifed Huffington holding a young boy as he hurled a faux ballot box into Boston Harbor -- if nothing else.

Out of the 35 or so people at the protest, at least a third (maybe even half) were members of the press, museum staff, or part of Huffington's entourage: all in all, a lackluster showing for political activism. Huffington's book publicist doubled as cheerleading captain, herding up the straggling participants and coaxing them to shout "Down with dirty money!" for a cameraman representing WLVI Channel 56 (the only network to send a correspondent). Not surprisingly, the chanting sounded as sincere as a sit-com laugh track.

The problem wasn't just that the pseudo-Tea Party was two-dimensional; by definition, publicity stunts pander to the camera. It's that Huffington's new book and supporting Web site (http://www.overthrowthegov.com) are immediate calls to action, manifestos attempting to incite the American people to mend their "broken" political system. But to judge from the poor turnout on Tuesday, it seems the right-wing glamour gal has a long way to go before she'll have a revolution to lead.