WASHINGTON -- It was classic Tim Russert: On yesterday's Meet the Press, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele was talking about the United States Supreme Court and Clarence Thomas, one of its most conservative justices. Steele has called Thomas a hero but yesterday said he disagrees with him on a number of issues.
Like what?
"I strongly support affirmative action," Steele said.
Russert saw an opening. "You haven't always supported it," he said.
"No, I've always supported affirmative action," Steele replied.
"Well ..." Russert said, drawing out the word with the timing of a comic, signaling to his audience that the hammer was about to drop. "If we go back to 1991," Russert continued, then quoted Steele saying that affirmative action "doesn't work" and has devolved into "a race-based quota formula."
The rumpled Russert -- whose pre-air primping consists mainly of running his fingers through his shaggy hair -- has made Meet the Press the No. 1 Sunday morning interview show for 10 years running. The fun of watching is seeing him snare politicians in moments of hypocrisy and doublespeak. His method is simple: Research the hell out of his guests and let them hang themselves.
Both Steele and U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin were tripped up by their own past statements yesterday. Cardin had trouble explaining remarks earlier this month when he said he would cut off funding for the war in Iraq and also a vote he cast last year against a bill that would require minors to get parental consent for an abortion.
It's no surprise that two U.S. Senate candidates -- Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee and Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey -- declined to participate in Meet the Press' series of Senate debates. As for Cardin and Steele, they both agreed to the appearance more than a month ago. But neither was under any illusions about who was the star of this show.
The son of a garbageman, Russert, 56, has reached the height of inside-the-Beltway celebrity by speaking plainly, asking tough questions and projecting a Middle American charm and sensibility. (He grew up in Buffalo, N.Y.)
The first in his family to go to college, Russert is now the first reporter politicians turn to when they have something to say. Vice President Dick Cheney has appeared on the show a dozen times. President Bush has stopped by, along with anyone else who wants to be taken seriously in Washington.
