There are three people who gave me a passionate love of news and the only one is left, John McLaughlin. The other two were my mother, who died a decade ago, and Tim Russert, who died today. This is one of the rare moments I'm happy Mommy isn't around to switch on the news, because this would have crushed her.
Tim Russert is already being lionized for the Washington powerhouse that he was, but I wanted to express what he meant to a little-girl news junkie growing up far from the action of national politics, sitting around wonkishly watching the news with her Mommy. For me, he was the superstar who made it out, but still wasn't ashamed of where he came from.
My parents were Reagan Republicans, and I came of age in Albany New York in the 1980s. My home was fervently Irish-Catholic, obsessed with Holy Cross and Boston College, and filled with laminated, well-worn novenas. It didn't matter that Tim Russert had worked for Mario Cuomo (disliked by my parents) or Pat Moynihan (respected by my parents, not for his politics, but for his intellect and, let's face it, his ethnicity). Tim Russert was our guy, and Mommy was intensely protective of the young journalist phenom she called her "big teddy bear".
He was Irish-Catholic, of course, Jesuit-trained, from Buffalo, and came to work in our midst in Smalbany, as some of us self-hating Albanians call it, before beginning his stratospheric rise into broadcast television and political history.
I remember vividly when he arranged for the first American interview with Pope John Paul II. I had recently been booted out of Catholic confirmation (for being too cynical, my parents were told), and I wasn't much interested in the Pope. But for my mother, it was as if Tim Russert had parted the seas himself. "That's our Tim. It's all because of Tim." When he would talk about Buffalo, my mother would always marvel at his connection to his roots and his beaming pride, and say something to the effect of, "thank goodness someone loves Buffalo."
I was finishing college when he started hosting Meet the Press, and I knew better than to call Mommy at the Russert hour on Sunday morning. "My guy is on," she would say, "are you watching?" which was more commandment than question. I was watching at a frequency that was probably a little weird for a young grad. For me, he was the first person who displayed a visceral love for the game, the players, the process of politics. Some might critique this as one of the antecedents of politics-as-sport, but coming from Albany, I was bred for a love of political theater (that's one thing, of course, Albany has in spades). I was also thoroughly engrossed with his command of the material, his methodical attack plan, the twinkle at every turn, and the barely-suppressed outrage he would have at something he thought was unjust or dishonorable.
In about an hour, The McLaughlin Group will be on (someone my 4-year son knows by name), another Jesuit master of the political game, and I have to say I've been worried about losing McLaughlin, another of Mommy's favorites, but not the big Teddy bear. If Mommy was still here, she would be saying novenas for Tim Russert's family. For my part, I'll be watching McLaughlin as always, but thinking of them.
He really did remind one of a brother or longtime co-worker friend.
And while I did find him a refreshing change from the usual softball questioner, there were times
I wish he had followed up more thouroughly when interviewing the president and members of his
administration.
Still, I wish his family and friends all the best.
But at least God will have great political coverage...
Not only do I not see it on television, I rarely see it in life. He really did appear quite genuine, all the time. I'm not sure I ever saw him on camera in a way that made me doubt his veracity.
I'm too young to have worked with Moynihan, but there was something about his politics that was thoughtful, honest, and sometimes surprisingly hard to place. I think it's a particular tribute to the Senator that he plucked Tim out of an advance team and gave him a fast track to the national stage.
As to some of the ungenerous comments:
He asked questions, let them be answered (or not, after a couple rounds), and then let people judge.
Why get in the way with yelling or commentary?
If you don't like the way people vote, don't blame Russert.
I can't really imagine who will rise to fill Tim's role (although nobody will "take his place" so to speak.)
Maybe they'll go back to a panel for a time.
Sometimes the content of his detailed questions seemed contrived to force "gotcha" moments that were rather trivial. And in recent years he seemed to share the obsession of all the media with "horse race" news (polls, spin, etc) rather than substantive policy.
Of course, Russert, like all TV journalists, found it increasingly difficult to do substantive interviews. Most guests on ALL Sunday gasbag shows, MTP included, are so relentless prepped with prepared talking points, that no matter how artful or insightful the questions, they parrot largely predictable and inane nonsense. (St. Peter himself at the pearly gates couldn't get a straight answer out of many of the campaign shills who are invited to appear.)
But nobody's perfect, and on balance Russert did a very good job -- definitely the top of his class.
McLaughlin, otoh, seems like a pompous ass, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing", about as intelligent as an artichoke. His incoherent shout fests are completely unwatchable. It seems insulting to Russert to lump them together.
Farewell to Russert, a real mensch. Let's hope the media is inspired by his passing to strive to do better.
Unlike so many of the hollow souls Tim interviewed, he had a life beyond the rhetoric and gamesmanship of the day, and it was a rich one. He had a moral compass and it was for truth, not some personal agenda.
Some of the posters here seem to think that it is the job of journalists to substitute their own judgement for the judgement of duly-elected political leaders. It is not. Whether our electeds are right or wrong on any issue, time will be the decider, not some opinionated, unaccountable hot-shot. If a person wants to influence public policy, then the LAST PLACE they should be is "journalism". Tim appeared to understand this and was never better than during the last year.
Tim's tragic death has touched me more than I would have ever expected. I am profoundly saddened by the idea that as devoted as he was to his family, he will not be here to grow old with them.
Russert was all class, something you wouldn't understand either.
I cried as much for Tim, as I did at the image of your mother, calling him her guy!
Heartwarming!
What a sad day!
God Bless him indeed!


What a man,
what a journalist,
what a human being!

He will so be missed.

Whom should I turn to now that he's gone? Whom should I trust? No journalists have even come close in earning the people's trust as Tim has earned. I can only imagine the lost Tim's wife, Tim's Son & Tim's Father is experiencing at this very moment. I don't know him personally, but I feel as if I've lost a close member of my family. I don't know him personally, but I feel as if I've lost a close member of my family. I have a hole in my heart, our Sundays & our political coverage will never be the same again.
Rest in Peace Mr. Russert! I will watch the news with heart full of hope one or two shinning journalists will emerge from the superb journalism ethical seeds you've planted all these years.