I was shocked, needless to say, to hear of the untimely passing of Tim Russert this afternoon. Tim contributed so much to the national discussion regarding politics and policy and he will be deeply missed.
Looking back and reflecting on Tim and his work, many things come to mind. For one, I didn't always like him. I despised him for being so tough with Hillary during her appearances. But at the same time, I was glued to the television, with a grin on my face, whenever he took the Republicans to task. Looking back, Tim was being tough with Hillary, but he was also as tough with all his other guests. Tim didn't play favorites. He didn't take sides. Was he a Republican? Was he a Democrat? I don't know and I don't think anyone does.
In fact, I often heard my Democrat friends complain that Russert was a blatant Republican. At the same time, if you ever checked out any of the conservative blogs, they were constantly claiming Russert was an out of control liberal. I suppose thats when you know a journalist is truly doing their job --- not when one side loves you and the other hates you, not even when both sides love and praise you, but when both sides think you're playing for the opposite team.
When Sunday would role around, there was only one Sunday show I was interested in seeing: Meet the Press. The frequent hour long interviews with only one commercial interruption were unprecedented and truly covered all the bases.
And although one couldn't tell what political affiliation Russert had, one could clearly tell one thing: Tim Russert loved politics. Whenever he talked about politics, Russert's face lit up. His level of excitement exceeded that of the proverbial "kid in a candy store".
And the work Russert put in was also unbelievable. He was on MSNBC's Morning Joe almost every day. Then you could catch him just an hour later discussing politics with Meredith and Matt on the Today Show. A few hours later he would be anchoring an hour of news coverage on MSNBC. In another few hours, he was talking politics with Brian Williams on Nightly News. He would then be a guest on Hardball or Countdown. On Saturday, Russert hosted the hour long Tim Russert Show on MSNBC and then on Sunday it was Meet the Press on NBC. No one worked harder. And it's not as if Russert had to work like that either; he chose to. As Vice-President of NBC news, Russert didn't have to do a damn thing: he chose to, though, because he loved politics and he loved sharing his passion with the American people.
Finally, I just want to talk about Russert's influence on me, an influence I don't think I fully until tonight. Tim would often, on Meet the Press, read a quote that his guest made in the past and then compare and contrast it with the same guest's most recent statements and positions. Looking back, I did the same thing many times here. It was just while reflecting on Tim that I came to realize this.
In conclusion, I just want to extend my heart and prayers to the Russert family. Tim Russert will always be remembered and will be sorely missed.
