On Russert

This news has not yet fully sunk in, nor has the idea that Tim Russert will not be moderating Meet the Press tomorrow morning. Death always brings out flowery tributes and embellished evaluations of the deceased’s impact on the world around them, but in the case of Tim Russert and his impact on the world of political journalism, each and every word is true.

It was Russert, long before anyone else on election night 2000, who realized it would be Florida, Florida, Florida that decided the election.

It was Russert who sat across from Vice President Dick Cheney on the eve of the Iraq war and came closer than anyone else to asking the tough questions to which this administration was perhaps prepared to lie in response to.

It was Russert who declared the race between Obama and Clinton to be over, weeks before there was any sort of concession.

To simply say he will be missed is of course an understatement. Meet the Press is the longest running program in the history of this country, dating back to its days on radio. Long before there was Tim Russert there was Meet the Press…but it is hard this morning to imagine Meet the Press now going forward without him.

Sunday mornings and election nights will never quite be the same again. We have truly lost one of the all-time greats.