# Meet the Press―Replacing Russert **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863 "2008-06-13T22:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/1 "2008-06-13T22:08:15Z")
Who should replace Tim Russert? I have been thinking about it, and I am not sure. Maybe Andrea Mitchell? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/2 "2008-06-13T22:26:44Z")
Katie Couric. It would give her the out she needs and everybody wants to get off the Evening News. And NBC wants her back. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/3 "2008-06-13T23:06:34Z")
You’re kidding, right? Putting Katie Couric on Meet the Press would lose the show all the respect and credibility Russert gave the show over the last 18 years. One of the softest (and most annoying) interviewers I have ever een. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/4 "2008-06-13T23:14:30Z")
If it were up to me, I’d say Morbo. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/5 "2008-06-13T23:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] You’re kidding, right? Putting Katie Couric on Meet the Press would lose the show all the respect and credibility Russert gave the show over the last 18 years. One of the softest (and most annoying) interviewers I have ever een. [/QUOTE] What? You’re maligning the woman who asked Barack Obama whether his feeling about having Hillary Clinton as VP was uccch? But NBC does want her back. Don’t ask me why. I just want her off CBS. ---
**Author:** ![Anomalous\_Reading](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Anomalous\_Reading](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anomalous_Reading)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/6 "2008-06-13T23:50:53Z")
One doesn’t _replace_ Russert. A person can succeed, but they can’t replace. To follow… that’s tough. I’m really not sure. He’s irreplaceable - far and above the best interviewer on TV and I thought that well before he died. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/7 "2008-06-14T00:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Who should replace Tim Russert? I have been thinking about it, and I am not sure. Maybe Andrea Mitchell? [/QUOTE] How 'bout Keith Olbermann? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/8 "2008-06-14T01:17:14Z")
I believe the job traditionally goes to the Washington Bureau Chief, so whomever is most likely to fill that post will probably be the new MTP host. David Gregory perhaps? Chuck Todd? Keith Olbermann, as somebody mentioned, might be a good fit. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/9 "2008-06-14T01:23:13Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja] I believe the job traditionally goes to the Washington Bureau Chief, so whomever is most likely to fill that post will probably be the new MTP host. David Gregory perhaps? Chuck Todd? Keith Olbermann, as somebody mentioned, might be a good fit. [/QUOTE] David Gregory just started his own show, _Race for the White House_. I wonder if contractual obligations would prevent it. Olbermann would be a good fit for _MTP_, but I’d hope _Countdown_ would continue. Andrea Mitchell sounds like an excellent choice also. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/10 "2008-06-14T01:26:10Z")
I think Andrea Mitchell would make a pretty good Washington Bureau Chief. Olbermann and Gregory don’t have the gravitas (yet). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/11 "2008-06-14T01:26:58Z")
[QUOTE=zamboniracer] How 'bout Keith Olbermann? [/QUOTE] Olbermann tends to wear his biases on his sleeve a little too much for Meet the Press. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/12 "2008-06-14T01:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=zamboniracer] How 'bout Keith Olbermann? [/QUOTE] Much as I love Olberman, he comes across as too partisan. I don’t know if he could bring the necessary objectivity, although he does seem to have a knack for asking good questions. Chuck Todd, maybe? He’s their Political Director, after all. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/13 "2008-06-14T01:31:15Z")
Damn, the guy’s not even cold yet! I was thinking maybe David Gregory, as well.[ul] [/ul] ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/14 "2008-06-14T01:52:59Z")
Olbermann would be awful. The reason why the nation’s highest office holders of both parties were willing to put themselves through the Russert wringer every week was that, even though he could be absolutely brutal in exposing contradictions and hounding his guests for an answer, he was widely recognized as doing so in an impartial manner. Many are not even aware that Russert got his start working for the New York Democratic Party – the man seemed utterly devoid of partisanship. Olbermann . . . not so much. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/15 "2008-06-14T02:34:27Z")
Olbermann is as unlikely as Bill O’Reilly. Both have political points of view and the moderator or **Meet The Press** cannot be seen to be partisan. Also, I doubt Olbermann would give up **Countdown** – he seems to love it too much. David Gregory or Andrea Mitchell are potentially good choices. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/16 "2008-06-14T02:40:04Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] Damn, the guy’s not even cold yet! [/QUOTE] True, but it’s also true that there will be a _Meet The Press_ airing this Sunday morning. The show must go on. [QUOTE=HelloNinja] I believe the job traditionally goes to the Washington Bureau Chief, so whomever is most likely to fill that post will probably be the new MTP host. [/QUOTE] Not true. Bureau Chief is an administrative/executive position. (Ever hear of Christopher Isher? He’s the CBS Washington Bureau Chief.) Russert is the only Bureau Chief ever to have also moderated MTP. Andrea Mitchell seems to me like the best choice. David Gregory seems like the most probable choice. But I think Katie Couric would actually be a pretty good choice. If NBC tells her they want hard news and only hard news, she’s quite capable of doing it. In a perfect world, though, NBC would go after Bob Schieffer, not Katie Couric. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/17 "2008-06-14T03:01:22Z")
I’d suggest Chris Matthews. He goes hard after both sides and he’s informed. When I was thinking about this question earlier, though, I was struck by my realization of how singular an interviewer Tim Russert was. I kind of took him for granted, and I think I’m just now appreciating how unique he was. It’s not often I feel like the death of a famous person is a real injury to their industry, but I think that’s true of Russert. This is a blow to political journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/18 "2008-06-14T03:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] (Ever hear of Christopher Isher? He’s the CBS Washington Bureau Chief.) [/QUOTE] In the interests of journalistic accuracy, I correct myself. CBS News’ Washington Bureau Chief is Christopher _Isham._ ABC News’ Washington Bureau Chief is Kate O’Brian. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/19 "2008-06-14T03:08:50Z")
I’d go with a new old idea - make it _Meet the Press_. In the old days, the interviewee would be grilled by a panel of reporters. This would be a perfect time to revive this format, as there is a lot of press talent in the country from all media formats that could easily cycle through the batting order a few times a year. Let’s not replace Russert. Instead, let’s craft a new show. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863/20 "2008-06-14T03:12:39Z")
NBC will ask Brokaw back for this, through the election. Olbermann? Does he interview well? I ask that because I honestly don’t know…all I ever see of him are his rants and commentary (sometimes the same thing), never interviews. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-press-replacing-russert/452863.md?page=2)