Florida, Florida, Florida

Tim Russert put that on a dry erase board during the NBC broadcast of the 2000 election. Those three words said it all. Nothing fancy, nothing flashy or high-tech, just ordinary tools that he put to extraordinary use. That sums up Tim Russert to me. He was an ordinary guy that made the most of his talents and took us along for the ride.

Russert was credited with coining the "red state - blue state" phrase. He made politics understandable and human. He was always prepared. He was always unbiased. He asked the questions that we all wanted the answers to. More often that not he got answers not policy statements.

John McCain described him this way, "Tim Russert was at the top of his profession. He was a man of honesty and integrity. He was hard, but he was always fair."

He was a dutiful son and a proud father. He was named Father of the Year three times by three different organizations, all in different years. After his death was made public, a candlelight vigil was held in his hometown of Buffalo. More than a thousand people turned out. It was held in Tim Russert Park.