Let Luke Russert Take His Dad's Chair on Meet the Press

We're starting the bandwagon today for Luke Russert to take over Meet the Press for his dad, Tim Russert. Ever since his eloquent and buoyant chat with the Today Show's Matt Lauer about his dad on Monday, the talk around town has been that he might outshine any of those on NBC's bench: Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews, David Gregory, Brian Williams, Chuck Todd, or Tom Brokaw.

Is he too young, being just out of college? Sure, we hear, but with his age group being the target audience for a show that comes as the youth vote appears to be getting serious about actually voting, it could provide the MTV-ing of the network that NBC needs. And unlike if NBC hires Katie Couric or Gwen Ifill, the expectations won't be so high. And given his performance on the Today Show, he could easily meet and beat them.

Just consider: As the rest of NBC was talking grimly and sadly about Tim Russert's passing last Friday at the age of 58, nothing Lauer tried to do could get son Luke to tear up. Just the opposite. He took every bad pass and ran for a touchdown. It probably helps that he cohosts his 60/20 sports show on XM Satellite Radio with James Carville, who raves about Luke. Talk about hands-on training for dueling with Vice President Cheney.