The final segment of Meet The Press this week included a tribute to the new host and self-proclaimed political geek, Chuck Todd. MTP played a three minute reel of tributes from his mother, Savannah Guthrie, Andrea Mitchell, Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, and Chuck's wife which ended with Williams calling Todd a 'goatee enthusiast,' and a fellow fan of football. Both Mitchell and Todd shared their love of revealing the 'failed leadership' of President Obama, especially around election time.
His backers feel Todd's affinity for political knowledge should qualify him for hosting a show with the rich history like MTP. However, the rich history excludes the last seven years. In fact, they went all the way back to the tenth anniversary of the show when JFK wrote about it. He said,
I know of no other radio or television program that has become such a firm and widely respected institution in American life.
Todd's political statistics are really not going to be a factor as Todd will be another David Gregory, if his "Daily Rundown" show was any indication.
Todd is known for his relentless grilling of Democrats while never challenging Republicans because, it's "not his job to challenge Republican lies." He was an avid, almost giddy cheerleader for Mitt Romney after the first Presidential Debate in 2012. He was certain the "Mittmentum" was going to continue to sway in Willard's direction.
Bottom line, the sponsors of the show will not tolerate a fair Beltway perspective. They want their interviews with plenty of corporatist, conservative spin. Do you really think Boeing, Siemens, GE, or Koch industries would tolerate any positive coverage of the president? Today's harsh critique on Obama's tentative approach to dealing with ISIL omitted the real reason ISIL is gaining strength. No one mentioned the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Saddam's army who were fired by the Bush Administration and were happy to join a group that despises the U.S., no matter who's in charge.
Todd will jump immediately to Wall Street Journal polls that never have a decent thing to say about Democrats, unless they are war hawks, like Diane Feinstein. He will base his performance on Meet The Press from the perspective of a very conservative, corporatist media. His political knowledge will be inconsequential.
