<p>Bruce Springsteen performed from Europe, but before he performed he gave a moving speech. All of the speeches at the memorial service were wonderful, but I especially enjoyed Maria Shriver’s speech about Tim Russert helping her daughter get into BC.</p>
<p>NBC will have an extremely hard, if not impossible, job of replacing Tim Russert. I was a huge fan of his, and the rest of the Presidential election will not be the same without his constant commentary.</p>
<p>Wolf Blitzer explained how Tim Russert had on his ipod the song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and it was played for the funeral. Then out came that extraordinary rainbow in D.C. the same afternoon. </p>
<p>Blitzer also said that when he spoke personally with Luke after the funeral, Luke asked him one favor, and so Blitzer did it: he closed his own show with Tim Russert’s signature “Go Bills!” salute.</p>
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<p>I also appreciated her sharing the story of Tim being the second person who called her after her uncle’s diagnosis, and noting that he was very concerned about how she was, and did she need anything.</p>
<p>Stories like that should inspire us and make us strive to be more like him.</p>
<p>adding to Michone’s speculating about who can replace Tim Russert… I suspect she might not be interested…but, can anyone else see Meet the Press as a vehicle for Katie Couric? I do really like David Gregory… but, assuming Katie is really going to leave CBS…I think she could actually do a good job in the role of Meet the Press host… not sure who wants to work every weekend…</p>
<p>Thank you to momof2inca’s for the heads up on rebroadcast. I DVR’d it and watched today.</p>
<p>If anyone hears of another re-broadcast, be sure to go at least 1 1/2 hours with your TiVO/DVR time. It ran that long.</p>
<p>And was wonderful.</p>
<p>No to Katie Couric.</p>
<p>But Bryant Gumbel?</p>
<p>It’s hard to imagine anyone replacing Russert, the whole package. I hope they will go for replacing the intelligence, integrity, and work ethic. Rachel Maddow is the only person who is coming to mind.</p>
<p>^^ I don’t expect anyone to agree with me. But she is brilliant, communicates well, thinks on her feet, and really knows her stuff.</p>
<p>I read an excerpt from an article today that reported ALL the jobs he held, aside from moderating Meet The Press - the guy had about a dozen jobs within NBC/GE, etc. They said it’s going to take 12 people to replace him.</p>
<p>Actually before Katie came to the Today Show, I thought she was a respected journalist. I think the switch to more fluffy stuff skewed her to the point it’s hard to get back to where she was. </p>
<p>gosmom - thanks for the search suggestions; I had no problems finding the song, and listened to it twice.</p>
<p>I do think Katie Couric is/was a respected journalist…and she has done a lot of election coverage…and I think she can be a pitbull in an interview if she wants…I think she has deliberately gone for the fluff over the years and she may not get back…but, it would certainly be an interesting “interim” fix for her…for the show…etc…I do not know of Rachel Maddow at all…</p>
<p>I really like Rachel Maddow. Don’t know if she can be as objective as Russert was. Please no Katie Couric or Bryant Gumbel. I would think David Gregory is the most likely replacement but as much as I enjoy him, he does not seem “ready for prime time” as evidenced by his Race for the White House show. Completely out of left field but just someone I enjoy quite a bit is Willie Geist from Morning Joe on MSNBC</p>
<p>I think I cried through the whole memorial. Tim Russert’s loyalty to Mike Barnicle makes me almost respect Barnicle. </p>
<p>Rachel Maddow would be great but I don’t think a large portion of the Meet the Press audience would accept her. I don’t think anyone from MSNBC will get the nod. I think Richard Engel and Anderson Cooper are going places.</p>
<p>Candy Crowley … John King</p>
<p>I agree, kmaqMom. Rachel Maddow is probably too partisan. It is really hard to imagine anyone else doing Meet the Press. And there are the other jobs he held. From the comments since he’s died, it’s clear that he was a mentor to many other people.</p>
<p>Candy Crowley - a strong possibility. I’ve been somewhat impressed by her mostly objective coverage of the campaign, her ability to be articulate on the issues, and her lack of fluff stories.</p>
<p>Don’t know if I will ever be able to look at her without laughing, though. When I went to a rally in South Bend for Obama, she didn’t know she was standing in view of the camera that was providing the live feed to the auditorium before he arrived, and the woman must have literally spent 15 minutes doing her hair, trying to get some body in it. We were all laughing so hard - poor lady didn’t know she had an audience and that she was being watched on the big screen.</p>
<p>P.S. Just picked up People magazine in the airport that carries the Tim Russert story, and plan on reading it all on the plane.</p>
<p>I saw Tim’s son interviewed by Matt Laurer(?) a few days prior to the memorial service and I was unbelievible impressed at how composed and articulate he was in talking about his dad and his family.</p>
<p>His parents did a great job in raising their son.</p>
<p>Good Candy Crowley story, teriwtt!</p>
<p>I agree about Luke Russert. He’s a son to be proud of.</p>
<p>Rachel Maddow is hosting “Race for the White House” now on MSNBC. She is very smart and well prepared. I like her better than David Gregory.</p>
<p>I LOOVED Tim Russert… watching him on Meet the Press I kept saying “Tim Russert should run for president…he certainly would get my vote”.
It is a great loss. He will be missed by many.
I was traveling and missed the memorial service, … just as well … I know I would have cried throughout the whole thing!</p>