Insight

George W.'s Jewish Voice

Ari Fleischer, .a son of Jewish Democrats, revels in
role as Bush's main spokesman.

LISA HOSTEIN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

hat's a nice Jewish son
of New York Democrats
doing as the most visi-
ble spokesman of the
Bush campaign?
"You can thank [former President]
Jimmy Carter for making me leave the
Democratic Party, and Ronald Reagan
for making me a Republican," said Ari
Fleischer, the 39-year-old senior com-
munications adviser and spokesman
for the George W Bush presidential
campaign.
Speaking on his way to a news con-
ference the day his boss was crowned
king of the Republican Party, Fleischer
said it was during his college years — at
Middlebury College in Vermont — that
he started to shift his political thinking.
Those were the years — the late
1970s — when . Iranian revolutionaries
held Americans hostage and
Afghanistan became the latest battle-
ground of the Cold War.
"The notion of a nuclear freeze
didn't make sense to me," he said, cit-
ing just one of Carter's policies with
which he disagreed.

Telling The Folks

Still a registered Democrat, Fleischer's
first job out of college was working on
the political campaign of a New York
Republican running for the U.S.
Congress.
After that, he was offered a job on
Capitol Hill — again working for a
Republican — and his political con-
version was complete.
"My parents were shocked," he
recalled. "They are proud Democrats."
But, he said, his parents still talk to
him — they even discuss politics,
though he never tries to persuade
them to follow his footsteps.
They even came to Philadelphia —
as good, strong Democrats" — to
join in the festivities surrounding the

"

Ari Fleischer

Republican National Convention.
The man who has emerged as one
of the most oft-quoted individuals in
the Bush campaign worked on
Capitol Hill for nearly two decades
for a variety of lawmakers, including
Sens. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and
Bill Archer (R-Texas).
He left Archer's staff to join
Elizabeth Dole's presidential cam-
paign. When her campaign foundered
last fall, he left, and reportedly was
courted immediately by Bush's staff
After some hesitation — during
which he reportedly negotiated with
Microsoft Corp. to become its
Washington spokesman — he signed
on with Bush in November.

Keeping The Faith

One of the first things Fleischer did
when he moved to Austin, Texas, the
headquarters of the Bush campaign,
was to join the local Jewish communi-

Remember
When • •

From the pages of the Jewish News
for this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.

1990

ty center to work out.
He describes his Jewish
background as "relatively
observant, basically Reform,"
and says that being Jewish is a
"big part of my life."
The fact that he and other
Jews play a prominent role in
the campaign, he said, shows
that Bush is a "wonderfully
inclusive man" who "doesn't
judge people by what group
they belong to."
He knows that most Jews
vote Democratic, and that
many Jews are troubled by the
conservative stances in the
party platform on issues such
as abortion and gun control.
The goal of Bush's
Republican Party, he said, "is
to show it's inclusive."
The governor's recent
proclamation of "Jesus Day,"
which drew criticism in the
Jewish community, should
not worry Jews so much,
Fleischer said.
"I've also read the gover-
nor's proclamations on behalf of the
Lubavitcher rebbe" and other Jewish
causes, he said. "Proclamations are
appropriate ways to commemorate
important moments in the lives of
your constituents."
Jews instead, he suggested, should
focus on Bush's record in improving
education and welfare reform.
"I hope that we can make an increas-
ing number of American Jews open
their eyes and reconsider their vote," he
said. "It's in the best interest of the
Jewish community and of the
Republican Party to reach toward each
other."
As for his own political future,
Fleischer evades the question about
whether he would like a position in
the administration if Bush wins. "One
step at a time," he said.
Is he optimistic? "We're going to
work very hard at winning," he said.
"It sure feels good now."

❑

Rachel Lynn Tessler was chosen to
receive the Wexner Graduate
Fellowship and a scholarship from
the Council of Jewish Federations.
Robert Kamins and Ari Nessel
will be torch-lighters at the North
American Maccabi Youth Games.
Jack Zwick was appointed chair-
man of the Jewish National Fund's
Operation Promised Land
Emergency Campaign.

19130
The Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith has asked Venezuela to
reconsider moving its Israeli
embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Temple Kol Ami Rabbi Ernst J.
Conrad was elected president of the
Rabbinical Commission of the
Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.

1970
The Grand Palais, last of the
Yiddish theaters in London, held its
final performance.
Joanne Caplan, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Irving C. Caplan, will
spend her junior year of high
school in Israel.

1900

E. Donald Shapiro was named the
first director of the University of
Michigan and Wayne State
University Institute of Continuing
Legal Education.
The Michigan Department of
the American Legion adopted a res-
olution opposing the showing of the
film Exodus because of "people iden-
tified with the Communist move- "
meet" who had produced the film.

1 1-5,

Entertainer Sophie Tucker
refused to appear in scheduled per-
formances in London because her
contract called for her to perform
on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.
Jeannette Steinberg, co-founder of
Detroit Hadassah, died in New York.

— Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant

8/11
2000

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