Writer's campaign manager bows out (Huffington)

[Khephra]

Writer's campaign manager bows out
HUFFINGTON AIDE HAS TIES TO BIG TOBACCO
By Mike Zapler
Mercury News

Independent gubernatorial hopeful Arianna Huffington and her campaign manager, Dean Barkley, parted ways Friday, citing concerns over Barkley's role as a tobacco lobbyist in Minnesota.

Huffington has been a vocal critic of the corrupting influence of ``high-priced lobbyists'' in politics, and she feared that Barkley would be an ``unnecessary distraction'' to her uphill bid for the governor's job. Barkley, an independent who briefly filled a vacancy in the U.S. Senate after Paul Wellstone died, was a leading strategist in former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's upset bid for office in 1998.

``It was totally amicable,'' said Huffington representative Parker Blackman. ``Dean's a really great guy. But they talked about it a lot and ultimately agreed this would be the best thing to do.''

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