Run the traps/trap line
Posted by ESC on May 24, 2008 at 14:06
Ran the traps - "The Fix ran the traps with Clinton advisers to get a sense as to whether these comments represented a major change in Clinton's approach to the nomination fight or whether she was simply responding to a question." The Fix, Chris Cizilla, The Washington Post. Reprinted in the Herald-Leader, Lexington, Ky., May 24, 2008.
Double-Tongued Dictionary online: "William Safire Safire's New Political Dictionary p. 646: A related metaphor is run the traps. A hunter will check his traps in the morning to see what animals were caught; a reporter will 'run the traps' of his sources to check out a story." Variation: "run the trap line." This site says it also refers to an American football play. www.doubletongued.org/ index.php/dictionary/run_the_traps/