Mike Allen and Dylan Byers say it looks that way. Full disclosure: I am friendly with Chuck Todd (and my wife worked with him years ago). I know he has his detractors on the right (and on the left!) and I’ve certainly had my disagreements with him. But I remain a fan. He’s a true student of politics and he sincerely tries to call ‘em like he sees him. As anyone who has followed my twitter feed probably knows, I am not a fan of David Gregory’s work at Meet the Press. He has no love for politics and always seems to be looking longingly at the Today Show desk.
If I had my druthers, Meet the Press would revert to the pre-Tim Russert formula of a panel of journalists interviewing newsmakers. I am at a loss as to why the show couldn’t revert to that (albeit with a roundtable discussion at the end). It would instantly win viewers from the right if that panel had right-of-center journalists in on the questioning (I have no doubt that one of the main reasons Gregory’s ratings have slumped is that he has zero credibility with right-of-center viewers. Conservatives complained about Russert, but they basically respected him — and liked him). The list of qualified conservative journalists is quite long these days, but I shall refrain from naming names for fear of leaving someone off. And even if they occasionally didn’t include a conservative competition between questioners alone would invite a more robust discussion.
If for some reason they can’t do that, with Chuck as the host and lead questioner, that’s too bad. But putting Todd in there is still great news regardless. I really hope it happens.