Tim Russert Did a Great Job on MTP

[WillyBrandt]

Whether he intended to or not. Attacking follow-ups might have been good, but just letting Bush speak off the cuff is so much more effective.

I hope Bush does interviews from here to kingdom come, where he has to ramble on for minutes.

Bush is simply such an unpersuasive man. Under certain circumstances he has political talents. In rare cases he can pull off the "Have a beer with" bullshit. (I don't count the scriped applause-groups; anyone can do that.)

But in terms of being a simple salesman who has to change the mind of a neutral or skeptical buyer--man he simply sucks.

ON EDIT: Russert did a mediocre job. Not whorish, but not great. What he did was let Bush talk, and thus embarass himself.

[Jack_Dawson]

1. I was surprised. I thought Russert would be tossing softballs like...

"How do you do it, Mr. President?" and shit like that. Called him out for being a liar, big spender and hypocrite. Not a bad way to spend my Sunday morning.

[Stupdworld]

2. great job?

well he did put up the economic graphic. that was about as frank a fact summary as ever. would have been nice if he had the AWOL docs we've all seen ready to hit him with.

i'd give russert's performance about a C - as expected, he didn't come out guns blazing. but he did hit bush in a few spots.

bush of course was as incoherent as ever.

[WillyBrandt]

3. The point is he let Bush talk, and make a fool of himself

[rumguy]

4. I wonder if winning the Media Whore of the Year award got his attention

[Jack_Dawson]

6. Link?

[buycitgo]

5. wellllllll.....since you put it that way

sounds like Peter Jennings and the law of unintended consequences.

they just don't realize how BADLY this jag comes across to non-delusionals. their hubris is boundless

such a WHORISH set up, though

Bush came to them, out of WEAKness, then demanded and got what must have been everything they wanted:

doing it there

taped

camera shots favorable to him

Had that phat slug been a real journalist he'd have said NO taping.

"you come HERE or we don't do the interview. you need us now more than we need YOU, KKKarl"

I know....wishful thinking

[KissMyAsscroft]

7. Yeah, he was great,,,

In a scripted, knowing the questions in advance, edited, worthless kind of way...

The fact that Bush STILL managed to look like a fool is really amazing...

[Alopenia]

8. Russet is fair and hard hitting on both sides

I have seen him hammer people of both sides. I think he is a registered Democrat, but he treats both sides equally as far as I can tell.

[Doctor_J]

14. 'scuse me

Russert was wearing a "Bush" lapel pin most of 2000. Don't know aboui this registration, but his sympathies are clear.

[Alopenia]

21. No. Russert worked in the Carter WH

He's a card-carrying Dem....yet he's still fair to both sides.

[Lindacooks]

23. Wearing a BUSH pin is NOT being 'fair to both sides'

I can always count on Russert to say something stupid in favor of Repukes. Always.

[Jax]

26. Link please Alopenia

"card carrying dem" "fair to both sides"

...who defines Dem and fair...you? No thanks.

Jax

[LosinIt]

29. From what alternate universe are you?

I never was the suspicious type until lately. Seeing these newbies who are following KKKKarl's talking points really makes me wonder.

[dae]

9. I didn't get to see MTP, family obligations, figured Russert would be...

lobbing one after another. Don't tell me he actually showed backbone or some semblance of objectivity?

[Manix]

10. The more Bush talks the more he exposes himself for the ignoramus

he is...keep on talking dork!!

[Mrs. Overall]

11. My spouse had an interesting insight--

it looked to him as though Russert was concerned that Bush might breakdown on national TV, therefore he tried to be both challenging and somewhat gentle.
I wish Russert had gone for it and made Bush crack.

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. I wouldn't call it great ,any Dem would have gotten follow-ups...

Bush rambling on about "I don't testify".

Hell,if Clinton would have said that to Timmy we'd still be getting the replay on FOX.

David

[UTUSN]

13. Agree n/t

[fearnobush]

15. It's the Pre-taped thing.

Russert likely chewed him up nicely, but we the people will never get to see the edits. Just by reason of the one day tape delay - anyone could make the arguement that it was a white wash. Not all that bad of one for us thought. RUSSERT: Will you testify before the commission?

BUSH: This commission? You know, I don't testify?

[0rganism]

16. After reading the transcript, I'd say he did a Fair job

He didn't lob too many softballs, but he didn't ask the hard-edged follow-ups either. To his credit, he covered a lot of ground. And shrub doesn't need any assistance in sounding like an idiot, even if the questions were prepped and cleared in advance, and the show was pre-recorded.

So... B- for Russert. It could have been a much more obvious snowjob.

[AlinPA]

20. I wonder how many times Bush* ran through the script and how many

edits they made. Seems they would only have to tape Russert's questions a few times.

[Beaker]

17. I'm more convinced than ever that * wants to lose in November-

I'm just now watching the MTP replay on CNBC, only halfway thru- and sure looks to me like he's setting up to 'take a dive'(like that would really be necessary).
They've accomplished their goals a lot quicker than they had anticipated, and now there's a bigger mess to clean up than they had anticipated...life is short, and they've got money to spend.

[wabeewoman]

18. I have to agree

Of course my expectations of Russert were very low but I thought he asked some great questions. I didn't really hear bush answer many of them. Gawd, he was a sight! What a total idiot! My husband told me to quit yelling at the tv but then he started! Seriously, if democrats would just take some exerpts from that and run them as ads, nothing more would need to be done to win back the WH. I just hope the press report what a farce this was-his trying to justify imminent when he clearly wasn't sure of the meaning was priceless.

[calimary]

24. There were many excellent new slogans coined by bush. My fave:

"this economy is coming along just right."

I hope the Dems run those seven words over visuals of those like the MoveOn ad where the kids are all in sweat shops, and pictures of people on the unemployment line, and shots of the homeless - men, women, and children, and bush's words superimposed over them all: "this economy is coming along just right."

Then after that, fade to black and two more words appear: "for WHOM?"

[seasat]

25. My favorite one was he referred to SS as an entitlement

That'll play great in an ad along with his irresponsible plan to privatize SS.

[mourningdove92]

19. I will admit, Russert did a better job than I had anticipated.

He did ask the tough questions, showed respect for the office. No, he didn't push as hard as I would have liked (you know, push, shove, right out of the WH), and he did let smirk slime out of some things, but all in all, he didn't lay down on the floor and act like a carpet.

[seasat]

22. Russert is a whore, that explains this.

Russert, Chris Matthews and probably the majority of TV talk show guys follow the political winds. They attack the side that is down and go a little easier on the side that has the power without appearing too blatantly partisan. That way they get the important people from the administration in power for interviews. Russert's interview was good news for us Democrats. I think he did okay without totally ticking off his conservative viewers. He questioned Shrub harder than he would have following 9/11 when Shrub's popularity was at its highest. I think he's noticed that the wind has shifted and its time to start whoring for our side. That way when our nominee takes the White House, he can still get the best people to interview.

[notbush]

28. The media made Dean

the media distroyed Dean....
Never...never..never...never think "the media's got it"
Kerry was a zero 4 weeks ago......Dean was blown-up by the media ...everybody hopped on board.

Wait 2 weeks.....The media will place a scope up John Kerry's ass finding things that aren't even there......

That's how they make a living.

[Norquist Nemesis]

27. I agree with mediocre to good

Surprised me, anyway. In the end, the ones who support Bush will say he did a GREAT job and everyone should just fall in line, and those that don't like him will say he hung himself. Personally, I think he hung himself.

BUT!!! Did anyone notice the cold stare at Russert when he asked Bush if he was prepared to lose??? And his response..."I'm not going to lose." WTF?!?!?

[The Screaming Icon]

30. Exactly!

I said that exact thing in an earlier thread, liburl. The only time Bush looked comfortable (indeed, engaged) in the interview was when he said that he wasn't going to lose. It wasn't just sheer optimism; it came off like it was a divine certitude! Paging Pat Robertson...

Looking at his expression (particularly his eyes) when he said it, I'd say that Satan has some competition.