This is such sad news, I’m still in Shock…..
The great political pundit…..has died.
Tim Russert - May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008
Via MSNBC:
Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after a sudden heart attack at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said. No details were immediately available.
Russert, the recipient of 48 honorary doctorates, took over the helm of “Meet the Press” in December 1991. Now in its 60th year, “Meet the Press” is the longest-running program in the history of television.
In 2008, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Timothy John Russert Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 7, 1950. He was a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He was a member of the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.
[…]
Russert is survived by his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine, and a son, Luke.
There are no words. I am absolutely stunned.
I loved his punditry.
Prayers for his Son and Wife, this evening…
May he rest in peace.
Update: Here is Tom Brokaw breaking the News: (H/T HotAir)
Live Coverage is being streamed:
Statement from Barack Obama: (H/T to Fox Embeds)
In case you can’t make out what he is saying:
“We all I think have heard the news about Tim Russert. I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who overtime I came to consider not only a journalist but a friend.
There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family. I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope that even though Tim is irreplaceable that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives.”
McCain’s Statement:
“I would like to just make a brief statement concerning the shocking news about the untimely death of a great journalist and a great American, Tim Russert.
Tim Russert was at the top of his profession. He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard but he was always fair. We miss him. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and we know that Tim Russert leaves a legacy of integrity of the highest level of journalism and we will miss him and we will miss him a lot.
Again, he was hard, he was fair, he was at the top of his profession. He loved his country, he loved the Buffalo Bills and most of all he loved his family.”
Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton’s Statement:
"We were stunned and deeply saddened to hear of the passing today of Tim Russert. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Maureen, his son Luke, his father who we all have come to know as Big Russ, his extended family and all of his many friends and colleagues at NBC who have suffered a tremendous loss. Always true to his proud Buffalo roots, Tim had a love of public service and a dedication to journalism that rightfully earned him the respect and admiration of not only his colleagues but also those of us who had the privilege to go toe to toe with him. In seeking answers to tough questions, he helped inform the American people and make our democracy stronger. We join his friends, fans and loved ones in mourning his loss and celebrating his remarkable contribution to our nation. "
I think it’s great to see how that the Political world is coming together, even for a brief moment to remember someone who was one of the best.
The Political Blogging world is stunned. It just tears my heart out to watch Keith Olbermann trying to hold his emotions in and stay objective.
Update #2:
Chis Cillizza @ The Washington Post:
Russert was, without question, the single most influential political journalist working in Washington. His show — known to insiders as simply "MTP" — was not only the most watched of the Sunday news programs but also the one that every politician and journalist aspired to appear on.
An example of Russert’s influence: When he proclaimed that Barack Obama had effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on the night of the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, it was seen as a significant sign that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s time in the race was running short. As my colleagues Anne Kornblut and Dan Balz wrote: "When NBC’s Tim Russert flatly declared the Democratic race over around midnight, one adviser recalled, "the air came out of the room."
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