www.csua.org/u/2z7 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/05/19/national0917EDT0502.DTL
Fleischer said he wanted to leave the hard-driving job before Bush's re-election campaign geared up. Fleischer clashed at times with the White House press corps and had an uneasy relationship with some senior Bush aides, but he said the departure was his idea. The president ended the conversation "by kissing me on the head," the spokesman said. Bush/President Bush, my time has come to enter the private sector to pursue more relaxing endeavors and see more of my wife," he said. He said he wanted to go on the speaking circuit and maybe do some writing. He said he had not talked with anyone outside the White House about a new job. Bush has not decided who will replace Fleischer, two senior White House officials said. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Texas native McClellan is the likely replacement but there are other candidates. Republican strategist Ed Gillespie and Pentagon spokesman Victoria Clarke have been mentioned by top Republicans as potential prospects. A cautious and calibrating press secretary, Fleischer has been the public voice of the presidency through the Sept. He frustrated reporters by constantly refusing to answer the toughest questions and sometimes irked his White House colleagues by pushing for access behind the scenes -- often without success. His meatless pronouncements on Bush policy are generally in keeping with a White House that keeps a tight lid on information. Though he is not as close to the president as other top aides, Fleischer has earned Bush's respect by taming what the president considers to be a hostile press corps. He also has sought to ease tensions between the press at the White House, though he leaves with a mixed record on that score. He acknowledged shooting himself in the foot when he snapped that "one bullet" in Saddam Hussein's head would be cheaper than a war. In the run-up to war with Iraq, Fleischer denied reports that Bush was meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair abroad. He once fumbled on the whereabouts of the vice president. When it was pointed out to him that Bush's top aides were at the anniversary event, Fleischer stammered. It turned out Cheney had been spirited away to a secret location because of the same potential threats to the country that prompted the government to heighten the public terrorist alert soon after. Still, senior White House officials said Monday that Fleischer left on his own, and that Bush wanted him to stay through the re-election. Goofs sometimes gave way to goofy -- such as when Fleischer joked about potatoes attacking America. This year, Fleischer defended Bush's plan to deny normal collective bargaining and other employee rights to workers at the proposed Homeland Security Department by noting that presidents have long had the authority to suspend such rights in a national emergency. Senate opponents would stop Bush from using powers he already has in other departments, he contended.
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