I’d go for Dan Rather. One of the best reporters of our time, unfairly hounded out of his job by Viacom/CBS.
Bob Schieffer is too identified with CBS to have any real credibility with viewers.
Olbermann could do it, but he’d have to give up the NFL on NBC gig, and he likes it too much.
I like 5-4-Fighting’s idea of having someone like Tom Brokaw in until the election. Viewers would get the experience and gravitas and it would buy NBC enough time to find a suitable replacement.
Honestly, though, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to find that NBC has had someone waiting in the wings. MtP is too important and too visible to leave it alone for too long, especially during a Presidential election cycle as significant as this one.
Robin
Except his death was so damned unexpected.
I also vote for Bob Costas. (We’re deciding, right? We just let NBC know once we’ve hashed it out?)
Is Costas hosting NBC’s olympic coverage? The network might have too much invested in that project to replace him on that at this point.
I say they go with Brokaw, if he’s willing to do it, until after the election. If he’s not willing to do it, drag Ted Koppel out of his comfy, NPR/Discovery channel retirement to host it until after the election.
They could go back to old format and have 3 or 4 newsmen question a guest every week.
I know Russert’s death was sudden, but wouldn’t NBC have someone as a substitute for vacations and such?
Robin
No, generally not. He only takes off one or two Sundays every year. Did.
From the descriptions of the schedule he was keeping right before he died, it sounds as if he literally worked himself to death. 
I liked Russert, he was a very good interviewer, but he wasn’t without flaws as a host and interviewer. He often let some important pols he was grateful to have on gabble along without challenging them in the slightest (Cheney more than once early in the Bush administration) , and his little gotcha game of “You said this 20 years ago, now you’re saying that” was a bit too precious at times, and wasted time jousting over non-issues.
The reason Russert stood out is that are relatively few trained interviewers in mass media news who can focus on the topic at hand, and not be sidetracked, and this was his greatest strength, that he could not be sidetracked no matter how many logs an interviewee threw in his way.
There’s no decent interviewers out there. Hopefully someone will grow into the spot.
Legal training.
Another lawyer is needed, for hard-nosed cross-examinations of the politicians. Preferably someone with Tim’s working-class roots, but that’s probably too much to hope for.
Russert’s law background was also what inspired his technique of confronting subjects with past statements. He conducted his interviews somewhat like a cross-examination. He somehow also had the ability to be able to tack somebody down like a butterfly and dissect them without ever coming across as unnecessarily hostile, confrontational, angry or biased. He had an almost ineffable ability to never seem like a jerk or like he was trying to get somebody. It never appeared egoistic. Getting indignant or hostile with Russert would just make the subject look like an asshole. That’s not replaceable. There are people who could be tough, but I can’t think of any who could so successfully pull off the Columbo act.
A lot of people have mentioned Olbermann. I think he wears his biases on his sleeve too much, and I think there arer times when he tips too much over into demagoguery to maintain the credibility necessary for the job, but the one bright spot in giving him the spot is that it would make Bill O’Reilly eat his heart out.
Here’s a though. I know he works for CNN, but how about Andy Cooper?
Of course, Faux News. Now, with the passing of Tim Russert, the best political anchor we have is Bill O’Reilly.
A lot of people might think I’m crazy for suggesting this, but if NBC decides to go with a single host, they might try to woo Brit Hume from Fox. And that’s about the only person at Fox I’d say that about.
Hume runs a show there where he isn’t afraid to air his opinions - it is advocacy journalism, and so no problem for him to do so. Even with that, though, he interviews people well, asks tough questions, and is fair to people across the political spectrum. He had that reputation at ABC as well.
For the sort of show Meet the Press is, he’s well suited for the job.
I disagree that Hume is fair. He’s a shill for the GOP.
Well, a lot of people might have had that argument about George Stephanopolous, who hosts a similar show on another network. Consider his recent employment history. And consider too that the aforementioned Tim Russert worked for Senator Moynihan and Governor Mario Cuomo before going into journalism.
Face it, there is a revolving door between politics and journalism, and if we accept that people of one political party might go back and forth, we shouldn’t get bent out of shape when members of the other party do the same.
And this doesn’t even apply to Hume, frankly, who went from being a reporter to being a commentator, essentially. If he goes to a network weekend commentary, analysis and interview show, there shouldn’t be any big problem - except in your mind, which we may fairly dismiss.
I was going to commend you for acknowledging that Olberman is a biased demagogue but then …
I have no doubt that the Edward R. Murrow of the Angry Left is lobbying for the job though.
But then what? I told the truth about Brit Hume?
Olberman does not pretend not to be biased, he dips only occasionally into demagoguery, and he at least has the saving grace of not being a liar, unlike the majority of screamers on the right.
I doubt he’s trying to get the job, though. I think it’s more likely to go to someone like Brian Williams or Andrea Mitchell.
Olberman has stated, on his show on both Thursday and Friday, that he not only doesn’t want the job, he doesn’t consider himself qualified for the job.
I heard earlier today that Tom Brokaw will be taking over the job, at least through the election.
I’m tellin’ ya’ Leno.