So why not have the best of both worlds? Russert was many things, but he wasn't a "moderator." Moderators balance and direct debates. Russert, to his credit, was a prosecutor. Why not make Chuck Todd the actual moderator of the show and have him moderate a panel of journalists?You could a roster of different panelists, of whom two or three might be on any given episode depending on who the guests are and what's big in the news at the moment.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/06/jonah-goldberg-is-completely-correct/48767/
