Political Journalism Loses A Legend

Vaughn Ververs: The Death Of Tim Russert Will Reverberate For A Long Time

(CBS)  This analysis was written by CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs.

---

The death of NBC’s Tim Russert has stunned the journalistic and political worlds. And his loss will reverberate through them - and our political system itself - for a very long time.

In over 15 years as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Russert grilled candidates, congressional leaders, cabinet members and political activists of all stripes with a style that was respectful and fair but also confrontational. His show became a measuring stick for anyone seeking elevation to higher office, a gauntlet of sorts that had to be run by presidential candidates to prove their chops - the “Russert test.”

With his background in law and active politics, Russert developed a style that was unique and effective, commonly confronting his guests with past quotes that differed from their current positions and staying on a single point until he received an answer. “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer, who competed with Russert each week on Sunday mornings said it best when he learned about the news. “Tim was the best of our profession. He asked the best questions and then he listened for the answer.”

That style was on display not long after taking helm of the Sunday morning public affairs show. In 1992, a presidential candidate who was riding high in the polls named Ross Perot appeared on “Meet the Press.” With diligent and specific questioning, Russert pinned down the candidate who was forced to admit that his deficit reduction plan didn’t exactly add up. Russert, as the Washington Post wrote at the time, “so rattled the Texas billionaire that he announced he was cutting back on interviews to work on his policy prescriptions.” Perot would swiftly see his political fortunes fade after that.

The impact Russert had stretched beyond Sunday mornings and he became an instantly recognizable face and voice for the network on the “Nightly News,” the “Today Show,” special events from Washington and, especially, election night. He did his homework, he remembered his lessons, and when Russert spoke, Washington listened.

But what separated Tim Russert from most political journalists was his ability to simplify seemingly complicated issues, to boil the story down to its essence and to communicate the excitement and joy he found in doing so. In the age of technological bells and whistles, fancy graphics and touch-screen computer maps, Russert preferred the unsophisticated.

Perhaps no story was more confusing than election night 2000, a night that would stretch on for weeks as two campaigns battled it out in the courts to determine the leader of the free world. It was on that night when he stripped all the technology away and pulled out a simple white board to break down the math and proclaim, in an observation that echoes today, that the whole election was boiling down to “Florida, Florida, Florida.”

Even as the testaments continue to flow in from all quarters of the political and journalistic world, the loss of his voice from this campaign will not be replaced. Not everyone in politics or journalism had the privilege of working directly with Russert, but nearly everyone in Washington respected and admired him for both his work and his obvious love of -- and respect for -- a city and process that defines our democracy. Politics is not always pretty and it’s rarely popular. But it is essential and Russert helped make it understandable and accessible. That’s why journalism and politics won’t be the same without him.

[rushlimpdrug]

" . .He asked the best questions and then he listened for the answer.%u201D

Watched some of the over the top tributes to this man.

Many times he talked over people giving answers.

This includeded Ross Perot.

Of course I was probably not listening the
same way "journalist" listen.

[samthetvcat]

I just watched the Meet the Press for this week, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Tim Russert. All we viewers are mourning the tremendous loss of this great down to earth journalist, but the loss for those who knew him must just be devastating.

I was blessed to have grown up in a neighborhood with a larger than life Irish Catholic with blue-collar roots we all called ''big daddy'' who was the heart of our community, had a passion for life, a gazillion friends, and was pure support to me and nurtured talents I didn''t even know I had. He died while I was in my teens, and I don''t think I''ve ever come across anybody else personally who was so thoughtful and generous of heart, but I still remember him often as THE example of humanity at its best.

I think anybody who''s fortunate to have had the chance in life to have been cared about by such kindhearted individuals can''t help but be made a better person for it. There are still times when I get petty and small, and thoughts of ''big daddy'' remind me that there''s a better way to be in life.

My thoughts and prayers to the Russert family and the fans of Tim Russert who are in grief over his passing . . .

[bookout2]

Tim Russet owed alegance to *** Parsons. Thats why
he called the democratic primary over and gave the
advantage to Barack Obama. Oldest spin trick in the
book.

[wogerwabbit]

You just love to forget that not the whole country buys his KRAP!

Posted by RowdyWicca at 02:59 PM

You''re right. A miniscule number of right wing junkies still buy in to the fiction of George W. Bush. The rest of us have seen beyond your propaganda sound bites and false patriotism and discovered the real danger to our democracy is not stone age goat herders, but a whole government based on lies. Halfwits like you rail against liberals like there''s some big conspiracy set against you, but I''m no liberal. I''m a Republican and you''re a nazi... and I will stand with my liberal brothers and sisters and will fight your vileness until our country is free once again. Your craven cowardness in the face of the real danger we face is a testimony to your worthlessness. Stick your head back in your hole and stay out of our way... real Americans are at work and you might get hurt.

[formrusmcsgt]

You just love to forget that not the whole country buys his KRAP!

Posted by RowdyWicca at 02:59 PM : Jun 14, 2008

Obviously, more than bought your herione''s krap.

[omega39-2009]

oh, the stress test is an ekg - maybe he should have had an x-ray or something?

Posted by SamTheTVCat

The newer stress tests are done by taking a series of images of the heart, then they inject a chemical that puts the heart under stress and take additional images for comparison.

[samthetvcat]

oh, the stress test is an ekg - maybe he should have had an x-ray or something?

[samthetvcat]

I still can''t believe he''s gone. I''m in this weird state of mind where I don''t want to accept that so my thoughts keep going to whether his family physician was really on top of his health and whether they should have known how bad his cholesterol problem was. Should they have been more aggressive with the lipitor? Should he have been on blood thinners? When was the last time he had an ekg? What was with that ''stress test''? Is that standard procedure? Why didn''t anybody impress upon him the need to get down to a lower weight? Was he monitoring his blood pressure? Can somebody sue his doctor and make that guy pay? I feel like somebody needs to pay for this because I feel like we as a country got ripped off at his early passing.

I don''t know . . .

[likeitis5050]

Then: used in putting things in sequence

I was here, then I went there. If you watched the show THEN you must know what happened.


Than: Used to suggest preference. I liked that show more THAN the new one. I am not smarter THAN him, just better looking!

Will you hillbillies get it right? There, that should unite a few people.

[smirk5]

When the Bushies feel that your show is the best format for pushing their lies, than you weren''t that great of a journalist.