Andrea Mitchell would be fine as a caretaker for the role, I suppose. But David Gregory seems like a terrible choice for among other reasons, he’s not very likable on TV (Russert’s likeability was a huge asset). Keith Olbermann would be a complete disaster, but I assume everyone not sniffing glue knows that. Chris Matthews would require changing the show to “Meet Chris Matthews’ Ego.” Katie Couric? Come now.
The best choice on the list of possibilities is Chuck Todd. I know Chuck a little, but friendship isn’t my motivation. I think he’s the only person on the inside track who’d actually consider the show to be more important than his TV career. Russert famously considered himself a “custodian” of MTP. I’d bet that Chuck would hold the same devotion, if not even more intensely. And with the exception of Matthews, Chuck knows more about politics than all of the other contenders combined.
So why not have the best of both worlds? Russert was many things, but he wasn’t a “moderator.” Moderators balance and direct debates. Russert, to his credit, was a prosecutor. Why not make Chuck Todd the actual moderator of the show and have him moderate a panel of journalists?
That was Jonah Goldberg.
Maybe my perception is skewed, but Chuck Todd really seems to have, in a very short time, created a rather solid reputation for himself. And of course by saying nice things about Todd, this now means that every Todd-hater in the country (both of them) will immediately come tell me in the comments why I am wrong and Todd is actually only one step removed from Cthulhu.
scarshapedstar
Your meta-comments are awesome.
Jay
I think Gwen Ifill deserves the post. She’s brave and brilliant. Plus, she was a friend of TR’s. Check out her great tribute to him here:
http://tinyurl.com/5dl7jj
cleek
who cares. they all suck.
Perry Como
Why do you have to slander Cthulhu like that?
Barbara
I guess it depends on what NBC wants MTP to be. David Gregory is probably the only “true” journalist of those named, while Chuck Todd seems to me to be more of a tactical specialist who might not exactly shine in the role of a moderator. Katie Couric lacks gravitas and Andrea Mitchell is, I’m sorry to say, hopelessly conflicted to an even greater degree than the usual Washington DC journo.
El Cruzado
Yeah, one step removed from Cthulhu, we know that.
The question is, on what side?
stevie314159
I don’t think Chuck has that “inside DC” personality yet that can take on the politicians. He seems like he might be too deferential. Give him a few more years.
What about John Harwood, CNBC’s DC correspondent (and NYT and WSJ writer, close friend of Tim’s). His work has always impressed me as even, smart and direct.
The Other Steve
I like Chuck Todd.
I think Todd works well as a commentator, but I’m not certain he could lead the discussion.
As far as Gregory is concerned, I don’t know what Jonah is talking about likeable. David Gregory is likeable enough. I think Jonah just doesn’t like him because he’s asked a few hard questions during Bush press conferences. Perhaps Jonah has been sniffing Bush’s ass a bit too much and is high on partisanship?
I can’t see either Matthews or Olbermann.
But then I’m more of a Ray Suarez/Brian Lamb type of viewer.
Z
So, why not Cthulhu? What better symbol of what the news has become?
The Other Steve
Oh yeah, Andrew Mitchell would be a disaster. She’d be afraid of asking hard questions because she would not get invited to the cool kids table at the party.
Helena Montana
Bill Moyers. I know it’ll never happen, but he’d be incredible.
Seanly
The only problem with Cthulhu would be that he drives all the guests to new heights of madness & lunacy…
Plus Chuck Todd has facial hair which is okay for DFH’s like Gore (so one can make fun of him), but not for respectable journalist Villagers.
Andrea Mitchell looks almost as ghoulish as her hubby Alan.
Crusty Dem
Blech. If Russert viewed himself as a “custodian” of MTP, why did he trash the format to give himself more facetime.
Go back to the old format.
The Other Steve
Chuck’s wife is a political consultant. Google Kristian Denny Todd… she’s worked with several prominent campaigns. A little too inside the beltway for me.
What I’d actually like to see, and maybe this isn’t Meet the Press, but I’d like to see a political show done out of Chicago. I’m a wheee bit tired of New York(Fox) and Washington DC(everybody else) perspectives.
ThymeZone
I’d go back to the old MTP format with a panel of questioners.
There was no reason other than ratings to make MTP into the Tim Russert show, and this would be a good time to take the show back to its roots and back into a weekly press conference with rotating panel members.
greynoldsct00
I like David Gregory, and he seems to have been a standout in terms of asking tough questions at the pressers.
Good God, I hope they don’t even consider Tweety or Katie.
PeakVT
Carol Coleman from RTÉ, due to this interview.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
Meet the Press, with Joe Scarborough
I’m going to go bleach my brain now.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I’d like to see Howard Fineman take the helm at MTP.
I know he doesn’t have the interviewer/moderator background, but I think he could grow into it, and he consistently impresses me with his knowledge of politics. His new book “Thirteen American Arguments” is a good read and suggests that he doesn’t just understand the mechanical aspects of politics but also has thought long and hard about how politics ties into our larger history.
He wouldn’t be as warm a personality on screen as TR, but those are big shoes to fill in that regard. I think Fineman would be excellent at being reasonably non-partisan while calling out BS, and I think he is much better at identifying the key issue in an argument and not losing focus – not an easy guy to spin.
my $0.02
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
Another reason to like the Obama campaign. 2nd City on the rise – Revenge of the Midwest. It’s about time that NY and DC got taken down a notch.
The Grand Panjandrum
Jonah should stick to his twelve cheeseburgers a day regimen and stop thinking. He’s hurting the team.
Gregory, is a very smart guy, and would be well in the job. But I do believe Chuck Todd would grow into the job very quickly. The guy knows his shit and he loves politics. I just haven’t seen enough of him to know how good an interviewer he would make. Gwen Ifill would be an excellent choice. Her PBS show Washington Week is excellent and takes on a format similar to the second half of MTP. Her work on the News Hour covers the political interview portion of MTP. She might be the person most ready to step in and cover the hour of the show.
But my favorite is still David Shuster. The guy is a tough questioner and not prone to swallowing every stupid answer a politician gives. I know he won’t get the job because of his relative youth, but he should be groomed for a leading roll at the NBC News political division. I guess I just like him because he is willing to call bullshit on a guest.
But if you are looking for a considered opinion as to who should get the job then I would say Gwen Ifill. She’s got the chops to handle the entire hour.
Kevin K.
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned Tyra Banks yet.
sean
will Chuck Todd be taking rollcall at every band meeting?
The Other Steve
That’s a good point. If you go back to that format, Chuck Todd would work as a moderator. I just don’t see him as an interviewer, questioner.
Actually I’d like that. The old MTP was stodgy, but at least it had substance.
Carnacki
Cthulhu? He’d be a brilliant choice. He’d eat all the guests and the nation most likely would be a better place for it.
Gus
The same David Gregory who yukked it up on the stage with “MC Rove?” The same David Gregory who thought the press did such a bangup job in the runup to Iraq? Fuck him. We need someone who can do a better job than Tim Russert.
TScheisskopf
Speaking of Cthulhu:
I posted on another site, the other day, a solution I felt would make for some great entertainment and trenchant interviews.
Haul out The Necronomicon, chant a few of the contained rituals, bring Dr. Hunter S. Thompson back to life, complete with half-gallon of bourbon on the desk(more under it, in case the first runs dry), his briefcase beside him(lots of commercial breaks to allow for tune-ups) and his lawyer as associate producer to feed him questions. Once a month, have an “Ether Sunday”.
Imagine the ratings bump. Most likely, the questions would be a vast improvement, too.
Tom in Texas
Chuck Todd doesn’t have the experience necessary for such a critical job. He’s also a bit too uppity for the working class types in Appalachia. If NBC nominates him, they will be condemning themselves to getting their clock cleaned in the ratings for the next several years.
jnfr
Chuck Todd is a numbers geek, that’s why I love him. I don’t know how he’d do at the helm of MtP; I think everyone’s right that it would depend on the format. Matthews is occasionally amusing, but please please please don’t give him any more air time. As for Greogry, all I can say is, “MC Rove!”
Joshua James
Just the fact that Jonah Goldberg recommended him makes me blanch in fear.
What about Rachel Maddow?
Barbara
Isn’t Gregory the one who asked a question of the French president in French at a joint press conference being held by Bush and the French president (to the quite evident annoyance of Bush, apparently)? Anyway, I’ve liked him more and more after that.
mrmobi
Being old enough to have actually watched the old MTP, I must agree, it was stodgy.
I also think it had a great deal more substance. I’m not slamming Russert here, I liked him, although he sometimes caused me to throw things at the TV.
David Gregory is a stooge, but so are most of the other names being mentioned, perhaps with the exception of Todd, who I like a lot.
The larger issue about all of this, it seems to me, is that NBC doesn’t care whether the show covers substantive issues. They want entertainment and ratings. Expect an early, and very poor, choice. Also, expect the usual suspects to be invited back, again and again. Carville and Matalin, every god-damned week!
If it’s Scarborough, I simply won’t watch it, ever. There is simply no reason for him to be on television.
demimondian
Cthulu? Definitely!
DougJ
I still say Charlie Rose would be better. No one’s tougher with his interview subjects and no one asks more concise questions. No one.
Barbara
Can someone pinpoint for me the exact moment in time Appalachia became an important tv ratings and election year demographic? Because I, of non-Scots Irish heritage, have lived much of my life in and around Appalachia, and I never thought about it as being the key to anything except coal mining.
Ninerdave
yet he’s also the one that has Rachel Maddow on his show almost everyday.
David Hunt
How would this represent any sort of change in the show?
Martin
I put my vote in for Melissa Theuriau the other day.
Dennis - SGMM
I’d like to see Todd get the show but, I’d hate to have his expertise and commentary lost to the other shows. Rachel Maddow, although she’s new to television, would be my second choice. Not to worry, MSNBC will choose a “personality” rather than a journalist. OTOH, maybe they’ll pull Mattews off of “Hardball” for the job and then I can just avoid watching MTP once a week instead of avoiding “Hardball” daily.
Gus
I’d be torn on that choice. He’s not a bad questioner, but god, does he love to hear himself talk. I guess they all do, but Charlie sometimes annoys the hell out of me. I second the Bill Moyers nomination I saw above.
SpotWeld
I realize that this is sort of off topic; I wonder if MTP, during the weeks that’s it’s going to take to sort out the placement of the next “full time” lead for the show… if they could put Jon Stewart in for one show. I realize he’s a comedian, but it’d be interesting to see if he could “play it straight” for an actual talking heads show and just use the occasional bit of humor to diffuse things when neceassry and keep the topics moving.
I mean what we’re really looking for here is a “moderator”, as opposed to one of the current generation of “gotcha journalists”.
Scrutinizer
I agree with the idea of going back to the old format. With real journalists on the panel, if they could be found.
I like Todd, but doubt that he has the experience and confidence to moderate the discussion. The same goes for Maddow, plus her brand as a liberal commentator would be a problem on a show whose moderator is (supposedly) politically neutral.
Ian
Top two choices:
Chuck Todd or Margaret Warner. She’s damn tough in addition to being smart and hard working.
My dark horse fav though is:
Colbert (we need more of a national discussion on the threat of bears).
johninpt
John Stewart, the most trusted name in news, hands down.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
David Gregory is a tool. Though it would be quite the sight, watching Gregory give his first-est and favorite-ist guest, John McCain, a sloppy rimjob right there on the table. On a Sunday morning, no less!
The only choice worse than Gregory would be Tucker Carlson.
Dennis - SGMM
It will be interesting to see which of them gets it.
Pooh
This.
Andrew
I say we just drop the guests in Survivor and American Gladiator-like challenges. Look, if you survive being chased through the swamp by Wolf you can talk to the camera about tax policy.
SpotWeld
…Andrew I think you just nominated Jessie Ventura for president.
The Moar You Know
I’d like to see MTP turned into an actual circle-jerk and fluffing session, but that may be a bit more than American TV is willing to allow these days.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
We haven’t yet reached the Caligula-names-a-horse-to-the-Senate stage yet, but I think future historians will see serious hard news analysis moving to the Comedy Channel as one of the signposts of a declining empire.
American politics – if it doesn’t make you cry, you have to laugh.
Napoleon
The more I think of it the more I think Gwen Ifill may be the perfect choice. She does a good job on her PBS shows, would be ready on day one to handle it and she doesn’t have any obvious baggage.
stinky mcgee
Not that I think he should get the job, but I’m surprised that Dan Abrams name has not been at least floated.
Nick in Florida
Goldberg making sense [I know, I know]:
I am also old enough to remember the original format of the program [back when the title described the contents].
In a perfect world, MTP would be the TV equivalent of Diane Riehm’s Friday News Roundups on NPR – which would make MTP an oasis of civility amongst its counterparts on the other networks – particularly if some of the better, if lesser-known journalists appeared, rather than the usual gang of pundits every week.
The reason MTP and the others have lost most of their value is that you KNOW what the regulars are going to say about any given topic.
I’d much rather hear a panel of folks representing the best of the PRESS: McLatchy, the BBC, Ha’aretz, Der Spiegel, Le Figaro, Al Arabia, etc, etc, questioning a guest than hear the same voices in an echo chamber.
Chuck Todd would be a good choice – Brokaw would be better, if he could be persuaded. Hell – why not Diane Riehm?
Clutch414
I like either John Stewart or Bill Moyers. Great suggestions.
Blurm
He is an Uber-boob
Jim Pharo
I think it’s Gregory’s.
B/y/w, are there TWO “Jonah Goldbergs”? Or TWO “Chuk Todds”? I can’t believe that the Jonah Goldberg I’ve read would like the same Chuck Todd that I see on my tee vee.
It’ll be Gregory in the old format — a show he s already doing on MSNBC. There might be talk of bringing in a Gwen Ifill or a Charlie Rose, but they’ll go with someone they feel is low-risk — and that (ick!) David Gregory.
Joshua Norton
OMG! I agree with everything Jonah Goldberg said. I feel as crazy and unclean as Lady MacBeth.
It did change the show drastically (and not necessarily for the better) when it became “Meet Tim Russert”. TR was the best of the current very mediocre crop of talking heads. There’s no one who is even a close second. They should just go back to the old program and loose the schmooze-fest format.
Karmakin
Jon Stewart could do a bang up job of it. Actually, to be honest, he probably would be the best replacement for TR I can think of if you wanted to keep the same style.
If you wanted to go to the panel format, I agree with going with Todd. He’s a numbers guy. The biggest problem with MTP I find was an ignorance of the numbers. It was too much about politics and not enough about policy. I think Todd could bring policy into play. Considering the shit that’s going to fly over the next couple of works, having a policy guy in place to moderate MTP would probably be best.
Atlliberal
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I agree with Jonah Goldberg!
Chuck Todd is a great analyst and the reason so many people from different perspectives like him is because he doesn’t insert himself into the story. I’ve been a fan of his for years when he would do spots on C-Span in the mornings.(I am a political junkie) I still am not sure where he stands politically. So while he has only been at NBC for a short time, he is much more experienced than that would imply. He was editor of Hotline for a long time. He is probably the only choice who would make me actually plan to watch the show as often as possible.
jibeaux
Hm. I don’t even know who Chuck Todd is. Politics semi-geek credentials, consider yourselves revoked.
kreiz
I’d love to Todd’s stock go up. He strikes me as an irretrievably reasonable sort.
Dennis - SGMM
Hmmm, how about Scott McClellan? I hear that he’s available.
gypsy howell
That could be kind of fun (assuming Scotty has a death wish). “But Mr Vice President, that’s not what you said behind closed doors when I was Press Secretary.”
srv
I agreed with you when I thought you were talking about Chris Dodd. Never heard of this Todd guy.
rob!
David Schuster?
Downpuppy
Ifill turned Washington Week into something completely unwatchable. So go with her, because its time to bury the show.
Or get Matt Taibbi. He’d kill the show too, but it would be more fun to watch.
Dennis - SGMM
LOL! “But Senator McConnell, I distinctly remember that lunch where you told the president that the stupid yokels in your home state would elect a three-legged dog if it was a Republican.”
DougJ
How about Danny Bonaduce? He looks kind of like Chuck Todd, but he has more tv experience.
rob!
if David Gregory does get the MTP gig, the opening credits should play over that footage of him dancing with MC Rove to remind everyone what a soulless hack he is.
wasabi gasp
David Gregory’s great skill is in thoughtfully and articulately voicing the other side of the argument regardless of how nonsensical or ridiculous it may be. And, for extra bonus points, if another side of the argument doesn’t yet exist, Gregory won’t let getting covered in eggshells and coffee grinds stop him from digging deep into the trash to find one.
Gregory’s a pro and doesn’t hesitate putting his finger on the scale in the effort to be fair and balanced.
Ted
I generally don’t spend any mental energy on whatever DoughBob Loadpants is farting about on the Corner on any given day.
Wildthumb
I like Chuck Todd, but where’s the Russert warmth and subtle
understated intensity? It was the intangibles that gave Russert appeal too, not just his journalistic cred.
Dennis - SGMM
Winner! I just wonder how long he’d last before he smacked some pompous pol.
FearItself
Bill Moyers would be the best choice, but I don’t know if he’d be willing to do it.
Wouldn’t Rachel Maddow more valuable in an outsider’s role? It seems like the establishment quality to MTP might stifle her.
Colbert would be better than Stewart. Stewart’s too easy-going; whoever he’s interviewing is his best buddy. Colbert’s White House Correspondents’ dinner speech shows he might have the nerve to stand up to his interviewees.
Diane Rehm could be awesome.
If you cast Cthulu, wouldn’t you also have to hire a new cast and crew every week?
Dennis - SGMM
How about Zombie Richard Nixon? He knows politics, he’s rested, and we could look forward to him eating the guests’ brains at the end of every show.
Ned Raggett
Getting back to the have-a-show-out-of-Chicago idea, I fully agree, as long as it’s these guys in charge:
Ned Raggett
Damn, the images would be blocked. I meant these guys.
Fargus
I’ve thought this exact same thing ever since the first time I saw Chuck Todd on TV. Brilliant.
DougJ
Does Chuck Todd have a fake bio worked up about how he grew up in a (fill in an ethnic designation) family group on the north/south/east/west side of (fill in the name of a gritty rustbelt city) where his (fill in the name of a salt-of-the-earth profession) dad taught him the value of things?
Tax Analyst
Replace it with “Celebrity/Politico Mud-Wrestling”.
Ultimately it would be more honest.
Suggested first match: Tag-team, Old-women we can do without category –
Hillary Clinton & Diane Feinstein
vs.
Condi Rice & Dick Cheney
– – Winners get free shooter’s & balls and then get to explain WTF we’re doing in Iraq.
It would likely serve us about as well as MTP has over the last 7+ years.
Tax Analyst
Hmmm…that’s not a bad idea either. It’s a lot more cerebral than my suggestion, although perhaps not as action-oriented nor colorful.
Dennis - SGMM
Shows what you know. Chuck Todd was born a poor black child in a sharecropper’s hovel on the banks of the Ohio River. Or at least he will be.
Tax Analyst
To help make ends meet his father fashioned bootstraps out of river debris and sold them to the neighbors for a dollar. That’s how Chuck learned the value of a dollar.
$1 = make-shift bootstraps Dad used to make & sell to the neighbors.
smiling dog
Why does anyone even watch these shows? Turn off your televisons.
DougJ
That sounds too much like an old Sam Cooke song. Hard-working white Americans won’t like it.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
I’d vote for this is you required that the still-living Henry Kissenger is shackled on the same couch next to Zombie Nixon, like the guys sitting on the sofa waiting for the results of their alien blood test in John Carpenter’s The Thing.
HyperIon
The last time I watched, that WAS the format.
And I’m with someone upthread: who is Chuck Todd?
I don’t understand getting news from ANY commercial channel.
If the outlet isn’t interested enough in the news to eschew commercials, fuck ’em.
DougJ
When he took his Dad to Per Se for father’s day yesterday, “Big Chuck” tried to order a Yuenling. That kind of thing really helps Todd stay grounded.
Worthy Evans
Ugh! No! I like Chuck Todd, but he has a C-Span personality (which is where I enjoy him most) and is currently more adept at crunching numbers. Not to say he couldn’t warm up to being a hardcore interrogator, but he needs some minor-league time before filling that seat.
Gwen Ifil would do wonderfully as the host of Meet the Press. She’s ready right now. There are other talents, Todd included, that could get some work done and fill in, but Ifil would be a big statement in many ways. Todd needs to change the way he gets his haircut, too. And lose the mustache, facial hair thing that he’s got going on there.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
The only numbers guys on MSM TV who wasn’t lying thru his teeth about the Hillary – Obama delegate math during the primaries.
kate r
I guess Borat is too last year. How about Garrison Keillor? I’d want to kill him dead after the first show, and all the deep inhalations, but it would be interesting.
How about a Brit? They always add a classy note. John Cleese does a fine “eddie baby” interview.
kate r
correction: I’d want Keillor gone after the first half of the show. I forgot it’s an hour long.
Dan Rather’s not doing anything these days is he?
el loco
Jorge Ramos of Univision would kick ass, a severely underrated TR type.
DougJ
He could do some songs with a jug band for the second half hour like he does on his radio show.
Dennis - SGMM
Brilliant! Eddie Izzard? Graham Norton?
Tax Analyst
OK, now this idea is really starting to work for me. Pair this up with Dubyah, and Rumsfeld or maybe Cheney.
I’ll take “Famous American War Criminals, Living, Dead or Zombie” for $85, Chuck.
Zifnab
Hey, that’s a point on his side of the board in my book.
How would anyone feel about Rosie O’Donnell? You know, for the ratings.
kate r
As long as the politicians and journalists are the ones forced to play and sing, or maybe dance since this is television, I’m with you on that one.
wasabi gasp
I’d like to see John Cole take the MTP helm. A couple of well deserved “You’re a fuckin’ idiot!” lines would make for a refreshing Sunday morning.
I don’t know if Cole has three eyeballs and a foot growing out of the side of his head, so I could be pushing it with the ‘see’ thing.
DougJ
I’m disappointed no one has mentioned John Tesh yet. Disappointed…but not surprised.
Dennis - SGMM
Have a heart; it’s already difficult enough to wake up on a Sunday morning.
skippy
whomever nbc picks, my question is, will it revert to the “meet the press” model again, or will it stay at “meet tim russert (or whoever gets to be his replacement)”?
the old mtp was actually a panel of jouros w/a moderator, so many voices were heard.
tim russert turned it into meet tim russert, and, if you’re a republican, don’t fret too much about it.
Jack H.
It shows the state of the media that it’s tough to think of anyone from any network other than Todd that would be competent and not immediately raise huge objections from the left or the right. Todd has the huge advantage of not having a long history in the public eye.
Tax Analyst
MTP, immoderately moderated by John Cole and his cat, Tunch. If Tunch is like every cat I’ve ever known I’m sure he would find a way to express his disdain for each and every guest. I like the backward scraping with a paw manuever, as if to cover up a particularly disgusting turd.
Shit, I’d even get up on Sunday morning to watch it, at least once, anyway.
w vincentz
Bill Moyers.
If you haven’t read his latest…patriots’ dreams, wander over to Common Dreams and read it.
And, while I’m touting Common Dreams, bloggers might want to read the article about Izzy Stone.
PaminBB
My guess is that they’ll have Brokaw on for a while, as a temporary fix. Longer term, I have no idea, but the brilliant suggestion above of Danny Bonaduce would make for some kick-ass TV. One can dream….
Worthy Evans
Or, whatabout Don Imus? That illiterate cop he puts on his show, Bo Dietl?
ET’s Billy Bush?
Simon Cowell. (“Listen to me: Your stance on Iran is crap. Your entire ahgument is crap…”
nightjar
I think they should bring back the old CBS “Point–Counterpoint” format and alternate each week with a different liberal/wingnut. The first show could be O’reilly and Olbermann whereas Olbermann would start with “O’Reilly you ignorant slut” and then it could go downhill from there.
maxbaer (not the original)
John Tesh? I’d rather go with Kenny G or Zamfir.
I’m late, but I’ll toss in a couple of suggestions: Tom Ricks or Tom Oliphant.
G_note
Sounds like a reasonable choice.
maxbaer (not the original)
I forgot about Imus. Surprised no one has mentioned Bill Kristol. Can’t Bloody Billy get any love here?
Tax Analyst
Hmmm…the Battle of the “O’s”. And maybe at the last point of the discussion Olbermann could just go, “Oh, just go fuck yourself” and flip off O’Reilly.
So Balloon-Juicer’s, which combo would draw the best ratings? Because that’s what the Network honcho’s are gonna wanna dance to. They could give a shit if you’re “adequately informed” or know less than a rutabaga.
w vincentz
Make the “Battle of the O’s” a 3-way. Rosie O’Donnell, yup!
joe in oklahoma
other than his dissing of olbermann, i think he may be right.
i can’t believe i actually agree with jonah goldberg’s assessment of anything!
actually, it is NBC…they could bring in Rush, or BillO, or some idjet like that.
Tax Analyst
Oh My!
Oy Vey
The Other Steve
You are so right, Tom!
Obviously the answer is David Brooks. Nobody represents the common man like Brooks.
4tehlulz
Fixed.
ThymeZone
MMmmm no, you’d need to watch at least 20-30 episodes to really know if was any good.
Sorry, house rule.
notmargaretwarner
Please, please, stop whoever mentioned Margaret Warner. She’s a certified nutcase. And she looks like a female John Kerry.
I like the idea of Charlie Rose quite a bit. Ifill has her moments but is kinda, well, boring. Schuster is too arrogant. Matthews is weird. Andrea MItchell is too elitist. Of the current NBC crew, Todd or Gregory are the only real choices.
w vincentz
Oy vey
Oh yeah
Oh shit
3 O’s
Bill Delyon
When I first heard of Big Tim’s death, and started watching MSMBC, Todd came on with KO and offered up his thoughts.
Afterwards, I thought he’d be the perfect guy to replace Russert, he knows politics, and seems to me to be one of the good guys in media, who tells it as he knows it, doesn’t buy into hype and seems to be one of the more unbiased cats who comments on politics. The way he talked about Russert, being basically his mentor, he just seemed like he’d really give the show the reverence & respect it deserves.
I believe in time he’d live up to the big shoes he would have to fill.
demps
not particularly impressed with Gregory, and find him offputting. Ifill is an accomplished journalist, and, at least by my reckoning, demonstrates unimpeachable integrity. Chuck
Todd is also very appealing, and does seem to exhibit an objective voice. My dark horse is Rachel Maddow however, it would be wonderful to have her possess such a platform, and she is a tenacious, often incisive analyst.
wtf
A panel with Bill Moyers, Charlie Rose, and Gwen Ifill.
Susan S
No one has mentioned Matt Lauer….I think he could be good once he is brought up to speed on politics. Remember how he got under Tom Cruise’s skin?
wasabi gasp
When there is nobody in the world that can answer the question ‘Where in the world is Matt Lauer?’ the world will be a better place.
Raukodraug
Except for his less than happy exit from NBC after he left Dateline, I would love to see John Hockenberry in the lead chair of MTP.
He has the no nonsense attitude that Russert displayed and great interviewing experience from NPR’s talk of the nation and from Dateline.
slippy hussein toad
What’s really surprising here is that anyone gives a shit what Goldberg’s opinion is. He’s like second generation wingnut welfare. Brains he has not.