Looks like David Gregory’s antics have paid off:
Gregory demurs when asked whether he has ambitions beyond reporting. But Russert showed no such reticence on whether NBC views its White House correspondent as anchor material.
“Absolutely,” Russert says.
I like Howard Kurtz, but this profile is more than a little puffy. Kurtz talks about Gregory’s aggressiveness in the press room, but he doesn’t really look at the substance of Gregory’s questions, which are often nothing more than Gregory’s opinion followed by “Isn’t that right?” Of course it’s appropriate to ask tough questions. It’s not appropriate, though, to use the White House press briefing as a forum for your own rants.
While I’m criticizing Kurtz and Gregory, I shouldn’t spare myself. In the past, I’ve been too quick to assume that Gregory’s antics were motivated by a disdain for President Bush. Kurtz reports that Gregory says he thinks Bush is “a good guy.” That’s probably true, so I was probably wrong. Instead, I should have realized that Gregory’s routine was designed to draw the maximum amount of attention to himself. And if Russert’s comments are any indication, it worked.