Meet the Dad Tim Russert on being a good son - and a good presidential candidate

Father's Day is coming up, which means it's almost time for another book royalty check for NBC's Meet the Press anchor, Tim Russert. Russert's memoir about his father, Big Russ and Me: Father and Son — Lessons of Life was not just a best-seller in 2004; it generated 60,000 pieces of mail from readers wanting to share stories about their dads (or father figures). Last year, Russert compiled the most compelling stories in a second book, Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons, which is now out in paperback. Meanwhile, Meet the Press has begun its "Meet the Candidates" series, which is must-see viewing for political junkies. The Biz recently caught up with Russert to talk pops and pols.

TVGuide.com: After you wrote a book about your dad and a follow-up, is the bar now too high for you on Father's Day?
Tim Russert: That's a great question. Last Father's Day, the Yankees played the Washington Nationals, and I brought my dad to the game. Yankees manager Joe Torre brought Derek Jeter over, and he made a big fuss over him. He loved it.

TVGuide.com: But the book has had a big impact on you.
Russert: The book changed my life. Not a day goes by that I don't get a phone call or a letter or someone stops me somewhere wanting to talk about his or her dad. It happens every day. It's been so rewarding. It's all, "Let me tell you the lessons my dad taught me." Or they've said, "My dad was no good. He abandoned my family, and my mom was my mom and my dad." It's an opportunity for me to break away from the poisonous ideological fighting in Washington. Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, east, west, blacks, whites, everyone has a story about their father. It's universal. For my own dad, it hasn't changed his life all that much. He's 83. I saw him two weeks ago in Buffalo. I talk to him every day.

TVGuide.com. And he's watching you every Sunday.
Russert: I love to call him after the show because he has this wonderful insight. He watched one of the candidates for president, and he said to me, "He's a good guy, but not for that job." He's the cheapest and most accurate focus group I could ever have.

TVGuide.com: Is your son going to write a book about you?
Russert: That would be a real problem. I hope he lets me retire first.

TVGuide.com: Let's move on to politics. Are these presidential debates too early?
Russert: We don't have any control over the process. Once you start raising money and going around raising issues, it's our responsibility to cover them. I think the debates help us learn how the candidates' minds work. I watch candidates in all different settings, whether it's on C-Span, Oprah or Meet the Press. Every time I watch them in a different setting, I learned something [new]. So overall, I think it's constructive.

TVGuide.com: Your "Meet the Candidates" programs are a make-or-break kind of situation. When does a candidate know that he or she is ready to spend an hour with you?
Russert: When they really want to be a serious candidate and a serious president. I have a simple premise for you: I don't think you can make tough decisions unless you can answer tough questions. The most important thing about the Meet the Press format is that you're allowed to finish your thought and complete your sentence. I don't interrupt people or harass them or harangue them. I try to give them an opportunity to express themselves. But I am going to be persistent in my questioning. Civil but persistent. If you changed your mind on an issue, that's fine. I'm not trying to play "gotcha." But I do expect, and the voter expects, that you've had some intellectual journey — this is where I was, this is where I am, and this is where I hope to be. The viewer wants to take a measure.... Barack Obama came in January of 2006 and said, "I will serve my full six-year term as U.S. senator. I will not be a candidate for president or vice president in 2008." He came back on in November, and I said, "This is what you said then. Do you stand by those words?" He looked up and said, "I'm not going to be coy. I've changed my mind."

TVGuide.com: Good for him.
Russert: Absolutely. That is an answer that's responsive, and it's candid and it's believable, as opposed to saying, "You took those quotes out of context." Every one of these shows has gotten a tremendous response, and all the candidates have said they will participate.

TVGuide.com: What's the best advice you can give them before they appear on your show?
Russert: Be prepared. Understand who you are, what you believe and what you've said in the past. You need not worry that you've changed your mind. Talk about that openly and how you got there. If you don't know something or are unaware, say, "I don't know." I'm not trying to trick people. I'm trying to give them an opportunity to demonstrate a grasp of the issues.

TVGuide.com: People are making fewer appointments to watch news shows because they've got the Internet and digital video recorders. Is this eventually going to affect the Sunday-morning shows?
Russert: We've made adjustments. The audience continues to be significant. But at 1 pm/ET we rerun the show on the Web. We rerun the show on MSNBC at 10 pm and 1 am. It's one of the highest-rated iTunes downloads. We understand the reality of the new media, but it's not going to change our mission. We're not going to become a food-fight show. We're not going to have crawls at the bottom of the screen. It's sit on a set, turn the lights on, turn the cameras on and have a serious, interesting discussion.