So we’ve already established that the Bush campaign won’t talk to voters unless they’re pre-screened Republican sycophants and that the president doesn’t like to talk to reporters because they occasionally ask him questions that are, you know, difficult.
Yesterday we learned that the campaign’s proclivity for avoiding any form of dissent has extended to radio interviews, where hosts predisposed to be nice to administration officials get the best guests. In fact, if you’re a right-wing radio talk-show host, expect a phone call from the East Wing any minute now.
On the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov, nearly all of the administration radio interviews featured since April are with conservative commentators, hosts at stations in battleground states, or both.
A White House spokesman, Ken Lisaius, flatly denied that political considerations are involved in making administration officials available to radio stations, or any other news media.
“We’re not concerned with politics,” he said.
The Bush White House? Concerned with politics? Perish the thought!
I’m sure ideology had no part in giving Fox News’ Sean Hannity seven of the 61 radio interviews featured on the White House website since April. Pure coincidence. Maybe Hannity’s booking agent is just the best in the biz.
Or consider the success of a small-town conservative in a state with three electoral votes.
Scott Hennen has had quite a summer, with an on-air guest list that’s a conservative talk-show host’s dream: Vice President Dick Cheney, first lady Laura Bush, two Bush cabinet secretaries, four other key administration officials, and at least five heavy hitters from the re-election campaign of President Bush. That’s quite a lineup for the host of “Hot Talk,” which airs on a pair of 5,000-watt AM radio stations in easternmost North Dakota.
Hennen objects mildly when a reporter asks whether his success at landing big-name Republicans has something to do with the fact that much of his audience is across the Red River in northwestern Minnesota, a Bush stronghold within a state that could go either way in this presidential election.
“It’s not as much related to them ginning up their base,” said Hennen, whose program airs on WDAY in Fargo and KCNN in Grand Forks. “This White House has been committed to talk radio since day one.” He said he has always had good luck lining up Bush administration officials, though he admits he’s been on a roll lately.
If Hennen thinks his all-star line-up is due to “luck,” he’s fooling himself.