WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six days before Election Day, the White House opened its gates Wednesday to talk radio hosts, staging an invitation-only North Lawn gabfest that gave the select few direct access to Bush administration officials.

Democrats complained that the event favored conservative radio programs and was just the latest example of Bush's willingness to use every tool at his disposal to influence next Tuesday's elections by getting out the conservative vote.

About 50 radio talk shows and news programs participated in "Radio Day," held under a vast, heated tent just outside the White House's front door from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on a cold, rainy day. Most of the shows broadcast live from the North Lawn, with the rest using material from stringers or correspondents. [...]

Shrugging off the timing as mere coincidence, the White House denied any political motive for the special-invitation talkfest. Taylor Gross, the press office staffer who organized the event, said it was long in the making and designed to give access where it is rarely granted. [...]

Those chosen came from across the political spectrum, from liberal to conservative to just-the-news neutral, Gross said.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri found the White House explanation lacking, saying the event represented an inappropriate mixing of the official and political with the overt purpose of promoting the Republican Party's agenda.

"I don't find that believable," she said. "First of all, there just aren't that many liberal talk show hosts, that's the sad fact. ... It's clear that the White House's Radio Day is a thinly veiled get-out-the-vote effort." [...]