Tim Russert, Dies of heart attack, age 58

The first time I saw Tim Russert was in the Howard Dean Headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa in January of 2003. He sauntered in, and while I was doing a series of double takes, he began speaking with other volunteers very casually. He rummaged around like a big grizzly bear, pawing at campaign literature, making calculated, deliberate observations. After grabbing a cup of coffee he moved on to the next candidates’ offices. It was not an earth shattering interaction, but it remained a way for me to connect the man on screen to the process of political journalism. While I often disagreed with his interview tactics (king of the “gotcha” interrogation technique) I knew his underlying mission was to reveal politicians as human beings and elevate the dialogue in the main stream media. There are very few pundits worthy of respect, but Tim Russert was one of them. His calm, friendly, almost reassuring manner will be sorely missed in a world of lazy, tabloid journalism. Full Story