Tony Snow, Now a
Headliner
By SHERYL GAY
STOLBERG , NYTimes on the Web, September 28, 2006
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — Tony
Snow, the White House press secretary, formerly of Fox News, still likes to
think of himself as a journalist by trade. But on Wednesday, he made clear
that his transition to pitchman was complete: He announced he had begun
headlining fund-raisers for Republicans.
“I wanted to be able to help the president,” Mr. Snow told reporters, explaining
that he was about to become the first White House press secretary — to his
knowledge — to help raise money for candidates.
“These are not going to be speeches where I go out and start railing against
Democrats,” he added. “What I’m going to do is talk about the president’s
record and what he’s done.”
Mr. Snow, who is often asked to sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans
when he travels with President Bush, said the White House political shop asked
him several months ago if he would be willing to go on tour. His first
appearance, he said, was last week in Harrisburg , Pa., for the state Republican
Party. On Wednesday night, he gave a talk in Washington to benefit a House
candidate in Minnesota.
Mr. Snow is well aware that he will be engaged in a delicate balancing act by
serving as the public face of the White House by day and being a political
advocate by night. He said he had sought the advice of colleagues,
including Harriet E. Miers, the White House counsel, before taking on political
gigs, and promised that speeches would offer little more than “factual defenses”
of the president’s policies.
“I think it’s unplowed ground,” he said. “And you want to make sure that
you do it in such a way that you’re still able to function effectively as the
press secretary, which means that from a red-meat standpoint, they’re likely to
be pretty dull.”
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