Big Shoes

I couldn't bring myself to do it.

In this cold-blooded business we speculate about everything: who'll win the election, who will get the veep nod, whether the Lakers can battle back against the Celtics or whether Tiger can come from behind on a bum knee to win the U.S. Open.

But I couldn't, as some other reporters did, write a speculative piece about who will replace Tim Russert. Not before the body was in the ground.

For one thing, no one will "replace" Russert. He was not just the "Meet the Press" guy but the "Today" and "Nightly" political analyst, the Washington bureau chief, the MSNBC pundit and so on. Plus, NBC has no idea what it's going to do because everyone there is still grieving and rather shell-shocked.

Whoever ultimately takes over "Meet" will make it his or her own show, not try to do exactly what Russert did, just as George Stephanopoulos runs a very different "This Week" than David Brinkley did, and Chris Wallace does a very different "Fox News Sunday" than Tony Snow.

But, the chatter is out there, and Russert would never pass up a good horse race. So let's start with a nomination by Newsday's Verne Gay:

"There are so many reasons why Tom Brokaw should be the next moderator of 'Meet the Press' - at least on what might be called a 'transitional basis' - that the best way to lay them out is a list, so here goes.

"1.) Soothing for viewers AND the network: The death of Tim Russert is, like any death, disruptive, but this one was profoundly so. Russert manned this program for seventeen years and manned it brilliantly. He WAS the face of Sunday morning, to a large degree, and WAS the face of NBC's political coverage. As a result, NBC needs a new face that is also profoundly familiar and trusted. There's only one at NBC which comes to mind.

"2.) Brokaw knows the territory. He, like Russert, is an encyclopedia of political fact and trivia, so much so that he's had to bat down rumors for literally decades that he would run for office from home state South Dakota. Moreover, Brokaw has worked by Russert's side, on-screen and off, for nearly twenty-five years. No one knows the rhythm of this coverage better than Brokaw.

"3.) No one else is ready. This is beyond self-evident. Of course, there will be the insta-rumor that Katie Couric is up for the gig, but any whiff of positioning on her part will kill this possibility so quickly that heads will spin. Yes, NBCU topper Jeff Zucker wants her back NBC, or so I believe, and maybe for a role at MSNBC . . . But she won't be back, if ever, at NBC until next year. NBC needs someone next week. The others? Chris Matthews? Never ready for this job - he's too cable.

"David Gregory? Smart guy and first-rate interviewer, while his agent would dearly love him to replace Matt Lauer one of these days. I say - as good as he is - the guy's got 'trust' issues with viewers who are pretty good at reading faces on the tube. Gregory's not ready for this job, and maybe never. Brian Williams? No. Absolutely, no. Viewers - and NBC staffers - will see it as a part time gig for him, and one to which he will devote neither all his time nor energy. He'll fly down to Washington on Fridays, and back to NYC on Sundays; this schedule would devalue his role at 'Nightly,' and you can't have that.

"4.) He'll answer the call. I think and believe Brokaw will . . . He won't want this forever, but maybe he'll grow into it."