Tim Russert Gets a Second Shot
When the Commission on Presidential Debates announced an NBC-free list of moderators, Tom Brokaw expressed an understandable objection:
"It's not personal pique," Mr. Brokaw said. "Obviously I would have liked to have done one of the debates. But my big outrage is that they excluded our entire network. And I just think that's unconscionable. ... Even our competitors say, 'What? They left out NBC?' Tim [Russert] has the No.1-rated Sunday show, I've got the No. 1-rated evening news broadcast, and we've done more debates than any other news division in the course of the past year."
The commission has declined to comment on its choices, other than executive director Janet Brown telling The New York Times that a star anchorman might "overshadow" a debate.
Now that a CBS moderator will surely "overshadow" the debate--Bush advisers are reportedly protesting that the network will be out for revenge--it would be a good move for all concerned to replace CBS's Bob Schieffer with Tim Russert. The Kerry campaign should make the recommendation.