David Gregory Officially Named Host of Meet the Press

We've known for a little while that the new host of NBC's Meet the Press would be David Gregory, but like the "is she in, or is she out" storyline of Hillary Clinton's primary run, and Secretary of State nomination, we could never be really sure. Now we are.

[Excerpt]



David Gregory named host of ‘Meet the Press’

David Gregory's new job as moderator of "Meet the Press" was made official Sunday with an announcement on the long-running NBC interview program that he will take over starting next week. . .

Read more at: MSNBC

Chuck Todd & Bill Kristol (?!) Make Me Less Nervous

Chuck Todd, the "numbers guy" on NBC's Meet the Press let a little air out of my anxiety balloon this morning, with his fancy-schmancy electoral map board. He shows that if John McCain and Barack Obama win all of their solid states, and McCain wins all of the toss-up states, Obama still wins! So, McCain needs to run the table on the toss-ups and also win Pennsylvania. Todd says McCain also needs New Hampshire as a "buffer" in case Obama takes Nevada.

That's a nightmare scenario for McCain, summed up by--of all people--William Kristol on FOX "News" Sunday, as "the one and only path to victory," and not a very likely one at that. Good.



Found at: AmericaBlog

Debate on the Fly

Image from source, MSNBC

Just a few quick notes on the debate, in progress as I type this:

- Barack Obama is calm, cool and collected, in posture and tone.

- John McCain is agitated, grumpy and stiff.

- The rules of the debate aren't working so well. . .no real structure to the thing.

- McCain has looked at Obama, but not for long, and not very often.

- McCain is very blinky, and both eyes aren't blinking at the same time, which is. . .odd.

- Tom Brokaw's speech impediment sounds more pronounced than usual.

- McCain's answers are rambly, and while I know he has more info in his head than his running mate, his answers meander and flail from talking point to talking point like hers do.

- As an Obama supporter, I've seen nothing to shake me of that support. And McCain has done nothing to win me over, even one iota. I might like him less now.

- When McCain goes negative, he comes off mean. Obama does that better.

- Nice closing by Obama. I'm sure the McCain supporters will hate it.

- Closing by McCain? Meh. . .

- My assessment: Obama won. At the very least, I don't think it was a game changer for McCain.

More on the debate at: MSNBC

Sunday Talk Shows, Take 2: Do We Know Obama Yet?

My take on the rest of the Sunday morning political chat-fests (excepting This Week with George Stephanopoulos, which is pre-empted by NASCAR--of all things--in Las Vegas):

Meet the Press: I've already covered the interview with the campaign surrogates, which blew. Following that, we got a contentious debate between two hopeful Senators who I don't remember from a state I don't remember. The meat of the show was an interview by Tom Brokaw of Bill Clinton. I've previously thought that Clinton's alleged tepidness of support for Barack Obama was overblown. Until this morning. Jesus, Bill, could you at least fake a little enthusiasm? And for God's sake (and this applies to all Democrats), enough of the laudatory, effusive "war hero" praise for John McCain, right before criticizing him for something. Nobody did that for John Kerry, a significant double standard.

FOX "News" Sunday: Always the most cringe-worthy of all the Sunday shows, today was really more of the same. Chris Wallace asks leading questions, and politicians to varying degrees, answer the way they wanted to anyway. And as always, the ludicrously named "Power Panel" takes up half the show--the only show that can be counted on to allot half their airtime to pure (and often wrong) speculation. Not a single thing from this morning's show stands out in memory.

Face the Nation: Barack Obama was the sole guest for the half hour show, and is the reason for the headline of this piece. The most frequent criticisms of Obama are variations on a theme: we don't know him; who is this guy?; he's scary; he's an unknown quantity we can't risk. . .etc., etc. OK, look. This guy has written two autobiographies (by the age of 47!). He's been campaigning in the public eye for over a year and a half. He's been picked apart by right-wing talk radio, wing-nut blogs, Hillary Clinton and FOX "News". He's performed well in debates and interviews. And he was clear, direct and thoughtful on Face the Nation this morning. Can we lay to rest the fiction that we don't know who he is?

Thomas Friedman and the Folly of "Drill, Baby Drill"

As I said earlier, I opted out of watching Sunday's Meet the Press, in exchange for a few more ZZZs. But I'm glad I found this clip of Thomas Friedman talking to Tom Brokaw about the chant (often heard--even at oddly timed moments) of "Drill, Baby Drill!" The crowd of Kool-Aid drinkers at the Republican National Convention were fully on board with Big Oil when it came to the drilling issue. Here, Friedman explains--in pretty easy to understand terms--why that refrain is not the answer.

Tom Brokaw to Temporarily Host Meet the Press

Picture from NBC News

When Tim Russert passed away unexpectedly a little over a week ago, it was a shock to political junkies like me, and of course to his colleagues and competitors. The question on everybody's mind--but one people had issues with addressing so soon--was, "who will replace Russert on NBC's Meet the Press?" His death, right after a heated primary race, and at the very beginning of the general election was like losing a major actor in the middle of a movie trilogy.

People can't help asking, who will they replace him with? Well, NBC made a very smart decision with their interim pick, Tom Brokaw. Brokaw used to be one of the three biggies, back when network news had more importance. Of the other two, Dan Rather was wounded by conservative bloggers (deservedly or not, your call), and Peter Jennings passed away. That leaves Brokaw as a lone elder-statesman, unless you go much older to the 60 Minutes crew or Walter Cronkite.

Putting Brokaw in until the election is over is a masterstroke. Everybody likes him, he doesn't look opportunistic, and we Stephanie Miller Show fans can delight in more Jim Ward impersonations of Brokaw! Now, if we can just get some alliterative "L"-word scandals? Llliberal lllesbian llllovers llllock llllips in Llllas Angeles llllove-in. . . Yes, I'm making fun of a man with a speech impediment. . .bad blogger. Baaad blogger.

[Excerpt]

Brokaw to lead 'Meet the Press'

Tom Brokaw will replace Tim Russert as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” through the November presidential election, the network announced today. Brokaw, 68, filled in for the first post-Russert week. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams was the host today, and revealed Russert's interim successor during the broadcast. NBC News President Steve Capus said: "A lot has been said in recent days about what 'Meet the Press' means to NBC News and to the nation. To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers. . ."

Read more at: Politico