Washington, DC — Today’s review of Ari Fleischer’s new memoir by New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani is one of the more disappointing items i’ve seen recently in the newspaper of record. I’m a conservative, but consider the quality, depth and gravitas of Times reporting to be numero uno. Reporting quality is paramount — not editorial page viewpoints.
Kakutani’s entirely negative and cynical review of "Taking Heat" bodyslams Fleischer repeatedly — noting his overall presentation is "tedious and tendentious."
Despite the one-sided critique, Kakutani’s overall sentiment accurately reflects the opinion of the White House press corps and the media in general. The Bush White House modus operandi from day one — even from day one in the earliest days of the nascent 1998 presidential campaign — is all about total control of information and the timing and method of its dissemination.
Guess what? It works — the Bush operation has been monumentally successful in its big picture media relations strategy — and the press corps resents the fact Ari and his successor, Scott McClellan, don’t play the way the press desires.
Mike McCurry, for example, thrives in the give and take and negotiations of the reporter-source relationship. There’s no one better, period. And he was not only effective in the more free-form Clinton White House, but the press liked him — a lot.
That can’t be said for Ari — who was operating precisely as his boss, the President, expected him to. That’s the way this White House works, and anyone involved in press relations for the Bush White House is going to take a hit as far as being "liked" by the press corps. This seems to have influenced the tone of Kakutani’s piece.
In the end, it boils down to whether Ari was successful on behalf of his boss, not whether he was liked by reporters. From the way Fleischer is privately and publicly disdained by a great number of DC reporters, it’s clear how successful he was as White House press secretary in helping to achieve broader, consistent policy and political victories.
While Ari may lack the personal charm of McCurry and Marlin Fitzwater, his talent for staying on message and understanding the media feeding process in a way that works for Bush’s style is obvious.
The Times review simply confirms Ari’s success during his tenure in the briefing room shark tank.