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If not for "Meet The Press" and its host, Tim Russert, Jim Webb figures he may not be a United States senator.
And a debate moderated by the NBC newsman who died Friday was a turning point in Democrat Timothy M. Kaine's campaign for governor.
Both candidates fondly recalled Russert on Saturday at the Virginia Democratic Convention and acknowledged his role in pivotal moments in their 2005 and 2006 campaigns.
Webb said his September 2006 appearance alongside Republican Sen. George Allen on "Meet The Press" was the turning point in his narrow, come-from-behind victory over Allen - not Allen's use of the word "macaca" as he pointed out a Webb aide of Indian descent at an August campaign event. "Because of the way he conducts the show, he was able to get myself and George Allen side-by-side and ask us a whole series of penetrating questions - hard questions for both of us," Webb said in an interview.
Within 24 hours after the nationally televised "Meet The Press" appearance, Webb said, $150,000 in unsolicited Internet contributions poured into his cash-starved campaign.
Since Webb's election, Russert brought him back onto his signature Sunday morning newsmakers forum, the longest-running show on network television, Webb said. "I've been interviewed by hundreds and hundreds of people over the years and he was in the top three of anyone I've ever been interviewed by," Webb said.
One year earlier, Kaine's campaign got a major lift when his Republican opponent, Jerry Kilgore, stumbled badly under Russert's relentless questioning about his position on abortion.
Russert was moderator for the annual Fairfax County (web|news) Chamber of Commerce debate in September 2005, and he was pressing Kilgore on whether he would sign legislation outlawing abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court struck down its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Kilgore refused a yes-or-no answer to what he called a hypothetical question. Russert persisted, asking Kilgore what he'd do if the General Assembly approved a tax increase. "I would veto it," Kilgore replied. "That's a hypothetical question," Russert interjected as a crowd of about 500 business leaders broke into laughter at Kilgore's expense. Kilgore's campaign continued to lose ground, and Kaine defeated him by about 6 percentage points.
"That debate was a political moment," said Kaine, who recalled being "star-stuck" at meeting Russert that day. "He really went after me on some death penalty issues and then he turned to Jerry on Roe v. Wade, and as he set up his set of hypotheticals, I could kind of see where it was going," Kaine said, still recalling the moment with a laugh.
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