This is not the post I intended to write today, but I could not fail to write a word or two about Tim Russert, who died yesterday from a massive heart attack. To a news junkie like myself, Russert took on the aura of a superhero. He asked the news makers the questions we all wanted to ask and he had the courage to insist on an answer. There’s no one in the news business -- not Blitzer, not Brokaw, not Rather, not Gibson, not Couric – who would bore in with the razor sharp precision that Russert brought to his interviews. If you doubt this ask John McCain, Barack Obama, or Howard Dean, all of whom I watched squirm under the intense questioning of Tim Russert.
Russert, of course, was more than the best newsman in the business. He was a son, a husband, and a father to people who loved him. From his writing, we know that he put family first in his life and we can only begin empathize with their pain. We will miss Russert the newsman, they will miss Tim Russert the man they loved.
Bob, Very well said. As
Bob, Very well said. As I said in another post I watched his show every sunday and learned a lot about politics from his show and interviews. I know there will never be anyone who can fill his chair. The show will still be there, but it won't be the same.
Hi Colts Fan, Thanks for
Hi Colts Fan, Thanks for the comment.
Russert was so good because he was always fully prepared. If you were a politician and you thought you could put one over on him, you were in for a really unpleasant surprise.
Several weeks ago, John McCain was on Meet the Press. Russert asked McCain about the time he(McCain) said he did not know a great deal about the economy. McCain said, indignantly, "I don't know where you got that quote." Russert said, "I got it from John McCain," then played the tape of McCain saying it. McCain looked for a minute like he had swallowed a bad piece of fish. I loved it.
But, Russert was tough on everybody. He did not play favorites.
Just an addendum to Bob's
Just an addendum to Bob's example with McCain....
I don't remember in which one of the 5,000,000 stories I read this yesterday, but, ok... never mind.... I don't want to screw it up... I'll find it
<pause>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25145431/
“Lawrence Spivak, who founded ‘Meet the Press,’ told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side,” he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. “And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.”
Giggity
Hello Dawg. Thanks for
Hello Dawg. Thanks for the comment.
I don't know what story you had in mind, but here's one on the Democrats. Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party National Committee, was on Russert's program. Russert asked him about the difficulty Democrats would have getting together after their very disruptive primary election.
Dean tried to spin his answer and get around the question. Russert asked him the same question in a bit different language. Again, Dean tried to spin and again, Russert asked the same question. One more time, Dean tried to spin his answer. Russert bore in again, with the same question. Finally, Dean said, "Yeah, well everything is difficult."
I did not personally see this interview, I got the story from an Indianapolis Star story, but is illustrates what I liked so much about Russert. He did not play favorites, but held everyone's feet to the fire.