Michael Moore Says Gets Lots of Republican Hugs

NYT

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (Reuters) - Michael Moore -- gadfly filmmaker, liberal activist and political lightning rod -- says he finds himself being hugged by a lot of Republicans these days.

On the streets of Traverse City, where Moore is working on last-minute preparations for a bigger-and-better sequel to the film festival he launched last year in his home state, the Oscar-winning director says he is approached all the time by conservatives ready to make peace.

"If you were to hang out with me here it won't be five or 10 minutes before you see a Republican hug me. That is almost as entertaining as some of the films,'' Moore said in an interview.

Moore has not budged from the central claim of his 2004 documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11'' -- that the Bush administration misled the American public about the reasons for war in Iraq -- but he says that more people have come around to his view.

"That's the shift that I'm seeing in the past year or so in the country, and as it relates to me,'' he said....