"A Sentinel At The Gates Of Our Democracy"
Harry Smith is co-anchor of The Early Show. This piece appeared on the CBS Evening News.
Man did Tim Russert love politics.
He ate it, lived it and breathed it. His knowledge of it was organic, internal and genetic. It showed in his every broadcast, in his every debate appearance.
Hacks or pretenders didn't last long with Russert on a Sunday morning. He was always better-prepared than the people he questioned, and often knew their answers before they opened their mouths.
Russert wasn't the politician's worst enemy, but he was their worthy adversary. He knew his role; he knew his job was to interrogate the powerful – to hold their feet to the fire, to ferret out the truth and to point out the inconsistencies.
Russert really was a sentinel at the gates of our democracy. He would not be fooled, could not be tricked. We trusted him to be about our business and to be about our concerns.
He was not afraid, nor was he intimidated. And because he was so good at what he did, we were the beneficiaries. He was in that chair for us, and we were damned lucky he was.