News and opinion site The Huffington Post today announced the launch of “Twitter editions” of each of the site’s 19 sections, with a Twitter edition of the main page coming soon.

Co-founder and editor Arianna Huffington said that as more readers are using Twitter to get their news, a Twitter edition of the Post is a “natural next step.” From the press release (download as PDF):

“The speed and immediacy of Twitter’s constantly-refreshing feeds is a perfect fit with our blend of real-time news, opinion, and community. Our Twitter editions are a great tool for those already using Twitter — and a great introduction to what Twitter has to offer for those who aren’t.”

Each of the Twitter edition pages start off with a few top stories such as you’d have on the regular section’s page. Then, below the fold are two live twitterfeeds collating tweets (via Twitter’s list functionality, it appears) from prominent reporters, pundits, insiders and other source tweeps. Further down the page is the Hot on Twitter section. There’s also a widget for readers to tweet from the page. Examples: Business, Politics, Tech.

Given HuffPo’s traditions of social media adoption and news aggregation, this integration with Twitter — the world’s potentially biggest real-time social news source — is not surprising in theory. However, in execution, the scale at which HuffPo has co-opted Twitter is pretty incredible.

As Huffington Post chairman Ken Lerer told PaidContent earlier this morning:

“We think it’s reasonable to assume that there will be more and more Twitter users; we think it’s here to stay. As more users get accustomed to it, this will be a way that users will increasingly seek their news from our site. I can see people coming to the main site and going to the Twitter editions. Eventually, I can see people just going to the Twitter edition instead of the main Huffington Post sites and verticals. Ultimately, it will end up being as significant an addition to The Huffington Post as we’ve made to date.”

Why not just change the name to Huffingtweet Post?

This move is especially bold considering that in just a few days, at the Chirp conference, Twitter executives are expected to finally answer the long-asked question, “How will Twitter begin making money?”

What do you think of Huffington Post’s Twitter editions? Smart? Revolutionary? Premature? Share your thoughts in the comments.