Tim Russert, A Political Junky’s Best Friend
I guess you can say I was not a normal child. Even in my teens I can remember getting up Sunday mornings and watching the political talk shows. The best of the batch was always Meet the Press.
On Friday, June 13, Tim Russert, the brilliant host of Meet the Press, died at age 58.
Russert’s style revolutionized the political news industry. He patented the tactic of putting a guest’s words on the screen when giving a quote (including the source), leaving no wiggle room for denial or claims of misquotation. Furthermore, he refused to let guests off the hook with vague answers, and worked hard to ensure that guests explained themselves fully..
Yet something else clear about Tim Russert was that he was not simply playing a game of “gotcha.” As a former political staffer for Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo, he loved the business of politics. He liked the idea of people rising up and fighting it out, both through policy and political tactics.
Tim Russert was a frequent guest on Don Imus’ show, and always gave it out as well as he took it. He was the consummate sport, but never afraid to fight back. From the interviews on Imus I always had the sense that his public personality really represented the true man.
He cared deeply about politics, but he also cared deeply about family. While most political journalists write books about elections, Russert instead wrote one about his father. And then a second. Sadly he died two days before Father’s Day, and the same week that he moved his father into a nursing facility.
Every Sunday morning in high school and college, Tim was part of my family. He introduced political figures to me, and at times made me understand the flaws even of those whom I admired. When I moved back to China at the beginning of last year I was able to listen to Meet the Press on my Ipod every Monday morning on the way to work. It was always disappointing when the hour was over, because I knew I would have to wait another week to hear him again.
Tim Russert was a great journalist on the American political scene, and for some of us, he will never be replaced.
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Matthew Stinson responds:
Posted: June 16th, 2008 at 10:03 pm →
Kudos for your kind words on the late Tim Russert.
I’m a bit older than you so I grew up on David Brinkley over on This Week plus Russert on Meet the Press. When Brinkley died a few years back it was a bit of a gut punch, and Russert is no less a loss. Just as This Week has never really recovered from the loss of Brinkley, so too do I expect Meet the Press to decline without Russert at the helm. Both were not just men but also institutions.