NBC News confirms reports that Tim Russert has died. He was 58.
He collapsed and apparently suffered a heart attack at NBC News in Washington, where he was the bureau chief and long-time host of Meet the Press. The network hasn’t made available further details. [Update: NBC now says he collapsed and "was striken."]
Just today, he spoke with MSNBC about the presidential race and Sunday’s Meet the Press.
In 2008, Time Magazine named Russert one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Last month, after Barack Obama’s easy win in North Carolina and near-victory in Indiana, Russert rocked the political world by pronouncing the real contest was over:
He’s survived by his widow, writer Maureen Orth, and a son, Luke.
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That’s shocking! He wasn’t the most athletic of characters, but it’s still a blow when someone is taken so suddenly. His family has my sympathy.
raincoaster’s last blog post..Osama Bin Laden parties with pagans in the Eighties
Shocking indeed. His influence and power can’t be overstated, but he even influenced things that don’t matter much.
IE: I still can see him in my mind’s eye during the never-ending election night in 2000. He was there with his low-tech eraser board tracking electoral votes and since NBC was using red and blue to designate Republican and Democrat, he started saying ‘red state’ and ‘blue state.’
And we all say it today.