Posted on www.TheEagleOnline.com on Oct. 15 6:53 p.m.
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer spoke about the White House, the presidential campaign and weapons of mass destruction Thursday night in the Kay Spiritual Life Center.
Fleischer's speech, co-sponsored by the Kennedy Political Union and the College Republicans, was given to a standing room-only crowd, consisting mostly of students.
Fleischer began his speech by saying "I was raised a liberal Democrat." Commenting on this, he said his father told him he would rather Ari be a Republican than a drug dealer. Fleischer became a Republican because he felt that while Democrats had an admirable dedication to social justice, Republicans provided the real solution.
In 1999, then-Governor George W. Bush called Fleischer and asked him to be the press secretary for the presidential campaign. Fleischer said he was in awe of being asked to do a job of this caliber. When Bush was declared the winner of the presidency, Bush again called on Fleischer to be his press secretary. Fleischer expressed the happiness for the opportunity he was being offered.
In driving by the White House before the Supreme Court's presidential decision, Fleischer was awestruck. "I literally averted my gaze," Fleischer said in speaking of trying to avoid jinxing his chance to work at the White House.
When Fleischer arrived on Jan. 20, 2001 for his first day as press secretary, he was shaken.
"My heart was beating," Fleischer said.
Prior to becoming White House press secretary, Fleischer had nearly 20 years of government experience, including working on Sen. Elizabeth Dole's 2000 presidential campaign and serving as Sen. Pete Dominici's press secretary from 1989-1994, according to CNN.com.
Reflecting on his two and a half years in Bush's White House, Fleischer said he loved the most intellectually stimulating job he has ever had. He spoke of his travels to the Kremlin in Russia and standing with the president on the Great Wall of China.
Fleischer also detailed his average day as press secretary.
He said he would begin his day at 5 a.m. and read The Washington Post and The New York Times to familiarize himself with whatever the White House Press Corps might want to ask him. The press corps was smart, cynical and always one step ahead of everybody else, Fleischer said.
Fleischer would arrive at the White House at 7 a.m. and hold a staff meeting to present people with whatever may be a media issue for the day. After this meeting, he would spend between two and four hours with President Bush in order to understand the administration's agenda. Fleischer would attend every policy meeting, except for some intelligence and national security meetings.
The audience applauded Fleischer's speech. KPU Director Emily Fuller said the speech was one of the most enjoyable events so far this year and that AU was fortunate to have someone as prominent as Fleischer speak on campus so close to this year's elections.
"I think he was really well received. Every student I talked to really enjoyed him," Fuller said.
"He related his experiences very well," said Alan Griffith, vice president of the College Republicans, regarding Fleischer's time in the White House.
Griffith also said Fleischer did a good job of illuminating differences between Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.)
Fleischer said the Democratic Party is organized, but that attacking and defeating an incumbent president is difficult. He said the Democrats have to give voters a reason to like them instead of just disliking the President.
Due to the presidential debates, Fleischer said he feels the undecided voters now a clear picture of both candidates, whereas before he felt that Kerry had been having difficulty defining his positions.
On the issue of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Fleischer said the president did not lie when he said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He reminded the audience that nearly every government and intelligence service in the world thought Saddam has WMDs, as well as the former administration.
He did concede, however, that the government was wrong about Saddam possessing weapons, but not about his intentions of using them or building them in the future.
Fleischer received a standing ovation from the audience upon finishing his speech, followed by questions from the audience.
In addressing a perceived liberal bias in the media, Fleischer said that journalists have a bias towards finding a conflict in every issue in order to create a sensational story. He also said there is a slight left-learning bias toward social issues.
Fleischer also spoke about being a wartime press secretary. In March 2003, Fleischer said the mood was tense especially when he came out in front of the press and said Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun.
Fleischer said he left the White House after more than two years of service because he began to feel burnt out and wanted to spend more time with his new wife and his family.
After the speech, KPU and the College Republicans held a small reception for Fleischer at the University Club. Fleischer posed for pictures and signed autographs for students as well as chatted with students about various subjects.
