It was either a tribute to the bully pulpit or a clue to a voyeuristic fascination with rug burn, but somehow a stray remark by the President has managed to get the whole country thinking about pick-up trucks and sex.

Mr. Clinton just wanted to pass himself off as a good ol' boy when he told workers at a Louisiana truck plant that even he had once rattled around Arkansas in an El Camino with Astroturf in the back. It was "a real sort of Southern deal," drawled Mr. Clinton, who said of his decision to tack the synthetic cushioning atop the metal truck bed: "You don't want to know why, but I did."

But that was enough to induce ribald laughter among the auto workers and other Americans who heard the tale retold in coffee-break jokes. Even Mr. Clinton found it hard to let go of the myth last week as he told Don Imus, a talk-radio host, that the real purpose of the turf had been to keep his belongings from bouncing around in the back.

"It wasn't for what everybody thought it was for," insisted Mr. Clinton, who said he "didn't ever do that." But he added: "I don't think I should disclaim it, really. Just leave it out there." DOUGLAS JEHL