Is there a new book deal brewing for Ari Fleischer? (His first book, Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House, came out in pre-Twitter 2005 and it kind of took the heat commercially.) A book deal might be one answer to the indelicate question about why the former Bush Press Secretary is fervently tweeting his recounting of 9/11/01 during today’s 12th anniversary of the attacks. Or maybe Fleischer just sees the anniversary as an opportunity to build his personal brand, as markcomm people like to say. Safe to say, Fleischer didn’t simply wake up feeling nostalgic and emotional. And his Tweet barrage isn’t an off-the-cuff commemoration either; it’s a well-planned social media campaign. It’s a Twitter documentary. But for what? Does it bolster his standing as a GOP strategist? (He’s no longer employed to communicate for Mr. Bush.)
Fleischer has tweeted up to 20 times per hour, giving a firsthand account of his experience on that infamous day (he was with President Bush). He’s tweeting from his notes, posting photos, and relating how much false intelligence was flying around that day, including reports claiming a “high speed object was heading 4his Crawford ranch.” He quotes Bush, already vowing not to respond with “slap on the wrist crap” to these “tin horn terrorists.” And how he himself is able to keep his wits about him. When Chief of Staff Andy Card said to cut the number of reporters on Air Force One down to three, Fleischer replies “We need 5.” Card concedes. It was by any account the last time Fleischer fought to increase the number of reporters with access. Many of his Twitter followers are calling the account “riveting.”
