Preaching To The Choir?
One of Governor Schwarzenegger's favorite media blitz strategies is to take to the airwaves of talk radio. And listening to those chit-chats, it becomes easy to see why the governor likes them-- because he's rarely challenged on anything that he says.
Schwarzenegger did five radio interviews today, with all but one being talk shows. As you read the transcripts of the broadcasts, two things become very clear. First, the governor spends a lot of time repeating the same messages-- even almost the same phrases and words-- as he has over the past few days and weeks.
And second, the hosts of the talk radio programs are very good at pitching softballs to the chief executive:
* On Bakersfield's KERN Radio, talk show host Scott Cox: "The California Teachers Association is telling everybody that you reneged on a promise, that you're lying about what you're going to do with the money. But that's not true at all, is it?"
* On Fox Radio, talk show host Tony Snow: "All these stories about your poll ratings going down and you're talking about all these things. Are your opponents misunderestimating [sic] you, as they do the president?"
* And on Sacramento's Y92 FM, the discussion covered everything from whether the governor would ever make a movie with former wrestler "The Rock" (aka Dwayne Johnson)... to pending legislation that would ban smoking in state building courtyards, like the one housing Schwarzenegger's famous cigar tent. The governor has apparently invited Y92 radio hosts Paul Robbins and Phil Cowan to join him for a stogie. Their response: "We'd better do it before these namby-pambies take your tent away."
