One last word on the passing of Tim Russert:
There is no doubt the man was the lion of political journalism. As countless others said over the weekend, candidates for high political office had to get through the "Russert primary" - a grilling on "Meet the Press" - if they had any chance at all of being successful. I would often watch those Sunday morning grillings, aggravated that Russert wouldn't be asking questions that were tough enough, and shout at the TV from my sofa. And the questions he asked as moderator of some of the Democratic debates this past primary season seemed, to me, absolutely ridiculous.
That said, the candidates who met with Tim and the questions he confronted them with made those candidates stronger. I give him a large hunk of the credit for making both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton the candidates they eventually became.
But news of his untimely passing hit me like a slap in the face for another reason all together. As a huge political junky I always found Russert's excitement at the processes of government a joy to watch. He lived and breathed the American political process. There were many nights this primary season where a junky like me wanted to be on that set with Russert and take part in the conversation.
And then there were those historic moments. One could tell that he was absolutely hankering for that split decision in 2000 - where one candidate won the popular vote and another the Electoral College - not because he wanted any sort of constitutional crisis, but because as a political junky, witnessing such a historic election would be one of the ultimate experiences. And then there was this year's presidential race. I don't think anyone in America was more excited about this year's presidential campaign, in which a woman or an African American would be the Democratic presidential nominee, than Tim Russert. That he was stricken down in the middle of it breaks the heart.
This morning, Tim's son, Luke, was on the "Today Show." Family man that he was, Russert would have been beaming. With his own sense of pride Luke celebrated his father this morning. He was solid, steady, and strong - in a situation where so many of us would have been sobbing uncontrolably.
Washington DC and the world of political journalism will never be the same. Russert was the stuff of legend.
