Q & A With Ari Fleischer

Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary andassistant to President Bush, will participate in the University of Judaism’s2004 Public Lecture Series opening Jan. 26.

Following the sold-out success of the previous two series,next year’s Monday evening lineup at the Universal Amphitheatre will featureGen. Tommy Franks on Jan. 26, former President Bill Clinton and former Sen. BobDole on Feb. 23, Bill Maher and William Kristol on March 22 and Fleischer, TomBrokaw and Dee Dee Meyers on April 19.

The series format will allow audience members to submitquestions well in advance that will be printed in the programs and become partof each lecture’s question-and-answer period.

The Journal spoke to Fleischer, 43, to ask a few questionsof our own.

Jewish Journal: It must have been a heady experience to bethe president’s spokesman, with the world hanging on your every word. Why didyou leave?

Ari Fleischer: The job was exhilarating, fascinating andintellectually rewarding, but it was also exhausting and very hard. The natureof the White House briefing room has changed a lot. And I got married, too. AsI said when I left, I wanted to do something more relaxing, like dismantlinglive nuclear weapons.

JJ: In what sense have White House press briefings changed?

AF: With round-the-clock TV and radio news, with the Internet,everything has become instant. Reporters are under a lot more pressure thanjust 10 years ago, when they had more time for reflection and analysis.

JJ: There were and are relatively few Jewish faces in theWhite House. How did you feel as the sort of resident Jewish rep?

AF: My Jewishness was never an issue. The White House staffis overwhelmingly Texan and Christian, but I found it a very comfortable placeto work. Besides, I wasn’t the only Jew. There was Josh Bolten, the No. 1policy person; Blake Gottesman, the president’s personal aide who travels withhim everywhere; and Brad Blakeman, the president’s scheduling director.

JJ: Are you a lifelong Republican?

AF: By no means. Both my parents are proud Democrats. My dadnever voted for a Republican and never will. While I lived at home and when Istarted college, I was a liberal Democrat. In a sense, it was President Carterwho drove me out of the Democratic Party and it was President Reagan whowelcomed me into the Republican Party.

JJ: How did your parents react when you came out of thecloset and told them you had become a Republican?

AF: They were horrified and my dad is still horrified. Weare a very close family, but not a quiet one. One of my brothers is a veryliberal Democrat, and the other is a very conservative Republican. We have somevery spirited discussions around the dinner table.

JJ: Did you have a Jewish education?

AF: I went to a Jewish nursery school on the Upper West Sideof New York, attended Hebrew school at a Conservative synagogue, and [had my]bar mitzvah at a Reform temple in Ridgefield, Conn.

JJ: Tell me a little about your family background.

AF: My father was born in this country, but my mother camehere from Hungary in August 1939. Very few of her family survived theHolocaust.

JJ: Have your parents met President Bush?

AF: Yes, many times. They both like him personally, and mymother even said she might vote for him because he is so pro-Israel. She isstill sitting on the fence. Occasionally, the president would ask me, “Have Igot your mother yet?” but she is making him work for it.

JJ: Did the president have a nickname for you?

AF: Yes, he called me Ari-Bob, sort of Texanized my name.

JJ: Are you involved with any Jewish organization?

AF: I was too busy when I was working in the White House,and now I have been setting up my own communications firm in Washington. But mywife, Becki, and I are expecting our first baby in May and we have beensynagogue shopping.

JJ: Are you writing a book? Will it be a kiss-and-tell?

AF: Yes to the first part and no to the second. I’m writingabout what I saw in the White House and my relationship to the press corps. Thejob was really like walking a tightrope between the president and the press.The reporters were a very sharp group, but very demanding.

JJ: The large majority of Jews remain Democratic. What wouldyou tell them to try and shift the balance?

AF: I would urge Jews to be open-minded, to follow the news,to vote their conscience and to be thankful that they have such a good friendof Israel in the Oval Office.

JJ: Do you see any shift among Jewish voters in the 2004elections?

AF: If the issues are largely domestic, the Democrats willfare very well among Jewish voters. But if Iraq, terrorism and Israel are frontand center, I think Jews will take a second look. There is also thegenerational factor. Younger Jews are much more open to voting Republican.Their elders, who still remember FDR [Franklin Delano Roosevelt], are likely tostay with the Democrats.

Subscriptions for the UJ’s Public Lecture Series are$200-$400. Tickets cannot be purchased separately. For more information, call(310) 440-1246.