READER JOHN FREDERICK wonders if the Bush Administration is launching its P.R. offensive beneath the traditional media radar:

As I flipped past John Boy and Billy this morning (don’t ask) I was surprised to hear them introduce a CPA spokesman on the phone from Iraq. Other than a few previous “serious” Q&As with the local AM yak station, this was the first time I had heard something like this. Is this the beginning of the Bush PR blitz? The show reaches 10 million+ every day – I believe that’s on par with the evening network news (per network). He’s reaching the southern NASCAR crowd which is VERY patriotic and pro-war. Best of all from the government perspective, John Boy and Billy were lobbing the guy the easiest softballs for him to smash out of the park (think Katie Couric interviewing someone like Hillary).

Given the ‘positive story = bury it’ mentality of the press, maybe we can expect more of this end around strategy.

Interesting.