Bush’s Campaign Finds Platform on Local Radio By JIM RUTENBERG, NYTimes

While the Bush campaign maintains a low profile on the national campaign stage — content for now to watch the Democrats beat on one another — it is aggressively working the expansive hustings of Republican-friendly talk radio, priming the grass roots faithful for battle next year. …

It is a network that the Democrats do not have — though they are trying to cultivate one — and one that Mr. Bush’s campaign strategists believe will give him an edge in an election that could go to whichever side best mobilizes its core voters.

Presidents have used radio to reach voters virtually since its invention. But strategists and radio experts say the Bush campaign has taken it to a new level of sophistication, using it far earlier in the campaign cycle and appearing regularly on shows with even the tiniest of audiences. …

The Republican courtship of talk radio began in earnest in 1994, when Newt Gingrich used the medium to push the “Contract With America” and, ultimately, bring about a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Bush’s political staff further perfected the strategy in the 2002 midterm election, when they invited radio hosts to the White House to interview top officials less than a week before the vote.