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candidate (while in college), and that was Tom Harkin. Then he went straight into political journalism. His wife is described as a "democratic operative." I'm not getting the hate for Chuck. He seems to be a basic down the middle, inside the Beltway pundit - possibly better than most. ******* From Wikipedia: Charles David “Chuck” Todd (born April 8, 1972)<1><2><3>, an American journalist, Chief White House Correspondent and political director for NBC News, and contributing editor to Meet the Press.<4><5> He is an occasional contributor to other news outlets, including the Atlantic Monthly. Before coming to the world of political reporting and analysis, Todd earned practical political experience on initiative campaigns in Florida and various national campaigns based in Washington, D.C.<6> While in college, Todd worked for the 1992 presidential campaign of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and later started part time at The Hotline.<7> The Hotline
From 1992 until March 12, 2007, Todd worked for National Journal's The Hotline, where he was editor-in-chief for six years.<8> As part of his position, Todd also co-hosted, with John Mercurio, the webcast series Hotline TV, consisting of a daily show lasting between three and seven minutes and a weekly show ranging between 20 and 30 minutes. He became a frequent guest on political discussion shows, such as Hardball with Chris Matthews and Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff.
NBC News
Tim Russert brought Todd to NBC from The Hotline in March 2007.<8> He became NBC News’ political director at that time. After Russert's death, Todd was a candidate to replace him as the host of NBC's Meet the Press,<9> but David Gregory was ultimately selected for the job.
As NBC News Political Director, Todd often provides on-air political analysis on political discussion shows, including Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Meet the Press, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show<8> and blogs for MSNBC.com at "First Read."<10> He also does a weekly Question and Answer ("Q&A") session with users at Newsvine.
On December 18, 2008, NBC announced<11> that Todd would succeed Gregory as NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, partnering with Savannah Guthrie on the news beat. He retained his title as NBC News Political Director and was also named Contributing Editor to Meet the Press.
Todd was a focus of an August 2008 Los Angeles Times article paralleling Todd's rise to the rise of cable news networks in coverage of U.S. politics.<12> The article noted the emergence of Todd's fans, deemed "Chuckolytes."
Todd is also co-author, with Sheldon Gawiser, of How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election, published in 2009.<13>
On July 6, 2009, former MSNBC television personality Dan Abrams launched a website service, Mediaite, reporting on media figures. The site ranks all TV-based journalists America by influence. Todd ranks, as of October 2009, right before Mike Wallace as number five.<14>
Personal
Todd is a native of Miami, Florida. He attended George Washington University from 1990 to 1994; although he majored in political science and minored in music, he did not graduate.<15> Todd is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.<16> He resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Kristian Denny Todd, daughter Margaret, and son Harrison.<17><18> Kristian Denny Todd is a Democratic operative and communications professional.<18><19>
Controversy
In a July 16, 2009 interview with civil liberties attorney and author Glenn Greenwald, Chuck Todd discussed his opposition to the investigation and possible prosecution of U.S. government officials who authorized torture.<20> In clarifying his argument, Todd stated that he was simply representing the views of the Obama administration. However, as Greenwald observed in the interview, Todd's language and questions from Mika Brzezinski clearly indicated otherwise, and his reporting of the debate completely excluded the contrary opinion on the subject--namely that elected officials should be held to account for committing crimes.
In the interview with Greenwald, Todd justified his opposition to criminal investigations due to the image of acrimony in Washington it would present:
Is it healthy for our reputation around the world - and this I think is that we have TO do what other countries do more often than not, so-called democracies that struggle with their democracy, and sit there and always PUT the previous administration on trial - you don't think that we start having retributions on this going forward? Look, I am no way excusing torture. I'm not excusing torture, and I bristle at the attack when it comes on this specific issue. But I think the political reality in this, and, I understand where you're coming from, you're just saying, just because something's politically tough doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. That's, I don't disagree with you from 30,000 feet. And that is an idealistic view of this thing. Then you have the realistic view of how this town works, and what would happen, and is it good for our reputation around the world if we're essentially putting on trial the previous administration?<21>
Moreover, due to his generally uncritical commentary on the President's economic policies and other matters, Todd has been characterized by other commentators including Rush Limbaugh as "the stenographer of the Obama administration." <22> <23>
However, in a discussion with Chris Matthews, Todd identified himself as a conservative critic of Obama. <24>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Todd |
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