From Scratch

When the death of a journalist inspires heartfelt tributes from politicians, from President Bush on down, you know it’s someone extraordinary. Tim Russert was. One thing that set him apart — and above — most others was his fundamental decency and fairness. Meet the Press is the most serious hour on American television, appointment TV for only a couple million people, but they include nearly everyone in Washington. And everybody who matters has gone on the show, facing probing questions with sometimes-difficult answers. The program makes news as often as it informs.

Russert’s considerable influence went beyond that. He was an election night staple and last month, the night of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, when he declared, “We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be,” it rippled far and wide.

But it was his low-tech eraser board the interminable night of the 2000 elections that some of us remember most. As he used it to try to keep America up to date, he was the first person I know of to say Red States and Blue States, the colors NBC was using that night on the high-tech board to show the parties. It turns out he had two eraser boards and his son Luke, now 22, asked for one. Russert relished telling the story of being so touched that his son wanted a memento of his career, only to have Luke say, “Do you know what that would bring on eBay?” 

So RJ Matson’s cartoon in the newspaper of Capitol Hill, Roll Call, has stuck in my mind. I’d have loved to share one from the Buffalo News but unfortunately, Russert’s home town paper is one of many that no longer has a staff cartoonist. It does have extensive coverage, though, and an online condolence and memorial board. There’s also one at MSNBC which, as of Sunday morning, has more than 16,000 pages of messages.

My deepest sympathies to Maureen and Luke.