Including using local media, which insiders believe is often less critical, and more sympathetic. And the substance of what President Bush proposed is typically toward the bottom of the story. The local press corps covers much more of the policy toward the top of the story. They are much less interested in telling their readers who won and who lost. But efforts to control the story of the day can backfire.
Outside events have a way of inserting themselves.
Watch the cables. All presidents figure out, I think, sooner or later that the down side is that if you don't tell your story yourself, and if you are not candid enough to try to open up the doors to the questioning press corps, that they will find a way to tell the story for you. And that's not usually a way you like. George W. Bush and his staff are painfully aware of the early communications mistakes made by previous presidents, including the first President Bush. This administration seems determined not to repeat those mistakes, and they have assembled a team of aides that includes some well versed in the ways of Washington.