For those of us who love politics, the past eighteen months have been a thrilling roller coaster and Russert loved being at the center of it all. Indeed, when he pronounced, on the night of Indiana and North Carolina, that "We now know who the Democratic nominee is going to be, and no one is going to dispute it," his stature was such that it did, effectively, end the competitive part of the race.
58. Damn. I need to hit that treadmill tonight, and tomorrow, and the next day ...
e.t.a., 5:31pm: Via commenter Chris Wilson:
I asked Adam if I could write about Tim Russert's passing for a moment. I interned at "Meet The Press" last spring, and while my contact with Tim was limited to groggy Sunday mornings and the occasional trip down to his office (the "MTP" offices are on the third floor, Tim's office is right next to the newsroom on the first), he was never anything but the down to earth, nice guy that you'd be led to believe he was watching him on television. Everyone in the entire building just called him Tim – I don't think I ever heard the words Mr. Russert uttered - and he was beyond personable to everyone that came to watch the show. My parents still talk about how wonderful he was to them when they came late in the semester to visit, and my mom e-mailed the picture of all of us to everyone in her address book.
As I watch MSNBC and the parade of NBC personalities that are bravely eulogizing him, eyes red and voice cracking, I think about the staff behind the scenes. I can't imagine how they're handling this, and I dare not consider calling them in this time, because it really was like a family. There were only six permanent staff members on "MTP," all incredibly talented and some of the best people I know. I was just down there on Wednesday, right outside of Big Russ' office, to figure some stuff out for work, as I'll be doing the Desk Assistant program there in a month or so. As it slowly dawned on me how poor and busy I would be for the foreseeable future, it all seemed worth it as I would be working for a legend like Tim and have the capability to wander upstairs and visit the staff he had so masterfully groomed and who treated me so well.
I don't really know what the point of this whole thing was other than to say that Tim was as great of a person as everyone at NBC is telling you he was. My favorite memory will be after my last show, where I was standing around with another intern talking to him and he joked that he already had a Notre Dame degree, and got it with significantly less work, because he gave the commencement speech there a few years ago. Here he was, perhaps the most well-known journalist in the world, taking the time after the show on a beautiful DC spring day to BS with two college kids he very well might never see again.
Rest in peace, Big Russ. The fact you're not getting to see this historic election through to the end is a shame, but no one will ever talk about political journalism without thinking of him.
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