| REGISTER TO WIN | |
 |
NBC's Chuck Todd (center) is in a familiar place: on TV, being grilled about politics by MSNBC's Chris Matthews (left) and Joe Scarborough.
Editor's Note: This story was published before the death of NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert.
Because primary season lasted five months instead of five weeks, I spent many nights in front of the TV watching voting results trickle in.
That’s how I got to know Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, the number-cruncher and the pundit who were hired not long ago to beef up MSNBC’s election coverage.
Have they ever.
Todd’s endlessly interesting breakdowns of delegate math recently got him named “MVP of the primary season” by the Huffington Post. The Washington Post’s media critic called him “the campaign season’s most improbable TV star,” which may have been a reference to his on-air delivery, his facial hair and his abundant use of the word “fascinating,” such as to describe voter turnout in Indiana.
As for Maddow, the onetime barista and morning-zoo sidekick has seen her airtime grow exponentially, most notably on “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” where she now fills in when the host is gone.
“She’s terrific,” Olbermann said. “Wonderfully informed, totally prepared, forceful and yet respectful.” Also young, gay, geeky and one of the few unapologetic left-wing voices in mainstream media.
The arrival of Maddow and Todd signals a generational change at MSNBC, which after years of missteps seems to be finding its way. I’ve always enjoyed “Countdown,” and “Hardball With Chris Matthews” is amusing, but the rest of MSNBC’s lineup was unwatchable for a long time. It tried to imitate CNN and Fox News but just made them look brilliant by comparison.
Today MSNBC is No. 3 with a bullet. It’s surging among the 25-to-54-year-olds who have always eluded cable news channels. In this demographic MSNBC is regularly beating CNN in prime time and even starting to challenge Fox News Channel.
For the record, Fox News continues to swamp MSNBC in total audience. But advertisers will pay richly to reach young viewers, even in small batches. So it did not go unnoticed last month when Maddow guest-anchored “Countdown,” and her rating in the age 25-54 “demo” was higher than Bill O’Reilly’s for the same hour on Fox.
•••
Before Chuck Todd covered politics, he worked on various national campaigns in D.C. and his native Florida. In 1992 he joined the Hotline, the National Journal’s daily political briefing aimed at Washington insiders.
He started by covering House races, “because nobody wanted to cover those in ’92. But it’s the local crime beat of politics. You understand how congressional races are going, and everything from there is easier.”
Todd became editor in chief of Hotline and a favorite guest on “Hardball” and other talking-heads programs. For most of us, though, it wasn’t until Tim Russert hired him in March 2007 that he drifted into view.
There’s a genial, unassuming nature to Todd, on and off TV, that helps take the edge off being the smartest kid in the room. You never get the feeling (unlike with, say, CNN’s William Schneider) that Todd has been brought in to take a complex topic and make it very, very simple. Usually the opposite happens.
Take last weekend on “Meet the Press,” where Russert and Todd spent three minutes enthusing over Todd’s electoral maps, showing the U.S. color-coded into five groups — solidly Obama, leaning Obama, toss-up, solidly McCain, leaning McCain — as a roundtable of NBC reporters looked on quietly.
How the 2008 primaries will be remembered
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.