IN THE 'SHADOW,' NOTHING LURKS

Counterculture: Testy Chants And Biting Humor Greet Sen. John Mccain,
Others At The Unorthodox Convention Across Town.

PHILADELPHIA--An alternative convention that promises to be anything but
conventional got off to a raucous start Sunday when Sen. John McCain was
interrupted by boos and hisses for departing from talk of campaign finance
reform to underline his endorsement of George W. Bush.

McCain won cheers with his trademark attack on the influence of big money
on politics at the "shadow convention," an unorthodox nonpartisan forum
that is being staged during each of the party conventions by an unlikely
coalition of social reformers and professional entertainers.

But the audience booed loudly when McCain said he felt bound "not by party
loyalty but by sincere conviction" to urge Americans to support presumptive
Republican nominee Bush.

McCain kept talking, praising Bush's education record in Texas, but the
heckling escalated. One man shouted "Gong!" while another banged on the
floor. A crowd of Native American rights activists chanted "Save Black
Mesa!"--referring to an Arizona tribal land dispute.

"If you'd like, I don't need to continue," McCain told the protesters.

Conservative columnist Arianna Huffington, a co-convenor, stepped in,
saying: "You know, this is the convention where we can listen to everything
with respect."

McCain managed to finish his speech to the forum, which is being held at
the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Center, but sporadic
interruptions continued. McCain, who was suffering from stomach flu, left
immediately after his speech. But he seemed to find the combative challenge
invigorating.

"That's the nature of politics. It's fun," he said later. "We can't shut
them out of the political process. I'm glad they're in it. If you proceed
on the theory that independent voters are going to be the key to the
election, then you have to go out and interface with them."

Huffington made it clear that lively exchanges are completely in keeping
with the irreverent spirit of the shadow convention, a political hybrid
that promises to use everything from speeches to stand-up satire to
showcase campaign finance reform, the racial inequities of the drug war and
the gap between rich and poor.

"This is a convention that is designed to promote debate, not stifle it,"
Huffington told the packed forum. "Those who want to hear people preach to
the choir should go somewhere else."

The shadow convention also is not for people who don't like loud music and
counterculture Americana.

Like a rock concert between acts, organizers interspersed speeches with
everything from hip-hop to rock music with a political edge. Paul
Krassner's book "Pot Stories for the Soul" was featured on a table
alongside McCain's "Faith of the Fathers" and Huffington's "How to
Overthrow the Government."

Among those not preaching to the choir Sunday was Rep. Tom Campbell (R-San
Jose), who attacked the Clinton administration's $1.3-billion aid package
for the drug war in Colombia, saying it would be better spent on U.S. drug
rehabilitation programs. He excoriated the racial gap in drug convictions,
which jail more black Americans than white Americans.

"The drug war has failed," Campbell said. "I cannot remain silent."

Bush took hits from all sides.

A paid advertisement of one of the convening groups, the Lindesmith Center,
showed a smirking Bush alongside pictures of people given lengthy drug
sentences on purportedly shaky evidence. "His youthful indiscretions. Their
shattered lives," it read.

In a comedy routine with Huffington, Al Franken concocted an imaginary
"push-poll," a mudslinging tactic in which voters are telephoned by
campaigners pretending to be pollsters.

"If you knew that during five-and-a-half years, [while] John McCain was
hanging by his thumbs in a North Vietnamese prison camp, that George W.
Bush snorted several pounds of cocaine, would you be more likely to vote
for Gov. Bush or less likely?" Franken asked, to laughter.

Franken lampooned Bush's education record, saying that now, "60% of high
school seniors in Texas read at a higher rate than the governor."

Nevertheless, one analyst at the forum thought McCain had done Bush a big
favor by appearing before the crowd of young voters.

The shadow convention "does have cachet," said Los Angeles political
analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe.

"I think it was basically a job interview for secretary of Defense," she
said of McCain's appearance. "I think he has a lot of points toward that
with his speech. It would have been nice if Gore could have gotten Bill
Bradley to do the same thing."

Times staff writer T. Christian Miller contributed to this story