The Tortoise and the Hummer

By Rob Ponce, AlterNet. Posted September 5, 2003.

The Arianna Huffington campaign has decided to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger at his own game by launching a hilarious movie online. The one-minute cartoon "Hybrid vs. Hummer" satirizes the tortoise and the hare scenario with Huffington playing the calm underdog closing in on the front-runner. Nearly 100,000 Internet surfers have seen the movie since its release earlier this week, according to a campaign email to Huffington supporters.

Huffington fans cheer as their hybrid-driving candidate coolly passes Arnold's "gas-guzzling" hummer on the road to Sacramento. The Hollywood actor turned Republican front-runner in the California recall election has long held the title of America's favorite action hero by delivering such memorable one-liners as "I'll be back," in "Terminator 2: Judgment day."

The terminator is not fed such brave lines in this latest film. Rather, Arnold whines about "this stupid hummer!" At the end of the cartoon Arianna can see the state capitol through the windshield of her electric car while Schwarzenegger is left on the highway shoulder, relying on his buddy George W. Bush to refuel his vehicle with some newly acquired foreign oil.

The cartoon highlights Huffington's commitment to clean energy, as she is an owner of a Toyota hybrid as well as the cofounder of Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars (AFEC) an organization which advocates a decreased dependence on foreign oil sources. By contrast, Mr. Schwarzenegger reportedly owns multiple hummers and even has one named after him, according to Esquire magazine.

"Hybrid vs. Hummers" as well as more information on Arianna Huffington is available at votearianna.com.

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