Men explore politics, MJCC on Night Out
By Toshio Suzuki
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Two veteran White House insiders—one with President Bill Clinton, the other with President George W. Bush—will be the featured guests at the annual Jewish Federation of Greater Portland Men's Night Out, Jan. 30 at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.
Jay K. Footlik, who was President Clinton's liaison to the Jewish community and a senior advisor to the Kerry/Edwards Campaign in 2004, will join Noam Neusner, who recently served as President Bush's primary speechwriter on domestic policy matters and also was the White House liaison to the Jewish community.
"It's an official position that's existed consistently for 40 or 50 years," said Neusner, who took a moment from running Neusner Communications in Maryland to speak with the Jewish Review about the position he and Footlik once held. "He's a Democrat, I'm a Republican ? we both share a tremendous amount of respect for the job."
Neusner said he and Footlik have participated in discussions together several times before, either for other federations or AIPAC, every time being new and different.
"We'll talk about our experiences in the White House and U.S.-Israel relations shaped at the highest levels of government," he said.
One of the challenges of being the liaison to the Jewish community, Neusner said, is representing that community while being strictly loyal to his employer, the president and the White House.
After Footlik and Neusner are done with their talk, which will be moderated by Oregonian associate editor and political columnist David Sarasohn, there is often time remaining for questions.
Besides fielding questions about the presidents they worked for, Neusner said there is usually an interest in the American Jewry, "how it is effective and how it can be even more effective."
The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with an hour-long shmooze time, including no-host bar in the renovated auditorium/ballroom. Informal tours of the center will be offered during the cocktail hour. A kosher buffet dinner catered by Allen Levin is set for 7 p.m. with meat and vegetarian options.
The program with Neusner, Footlik and Sarasohn will begin at 8 p.m.
Cost of the evening is $45, with 3 percent going to Mazon—A Jewish Response to Hunger.
Reservations may be made online at www.jewishportland.org, by phone at 503-892-7417, or by responding to the mailed invitation that will be in homes by early January. For more information, contact Bob Horenstein at 503-245-6496.