Today, a guy I really loved, died. Tim Russert was a humble person. You could tell that he had a solid core, even if you only watched him on TV. He was a genuine person, who was always smiling and who treated his television guests fairly.

Tim’s focus was family. He thoroughly enjoyed his Irish-Catholic roots and kept his focus on his family. He was an amazingly grounded person for someone who could have easily had his head in the clouds. He was a regular guy. Buffalo New York was lucky to have him as a son and he never forgot his origins.

NBC somehow put together a program commemorating Tim’s life tonight. As distasteful as it would be for most people, they took the opportunity to take edited clips of Tim’s interviews with politicians to make some Democrats look good and some Republicans look bad. I was incredulous that they would play politics on such a solemn occasion.

Tim Russert would not have played politics in a similar situation. His background was in Democratic politics. He had a law degree and had been former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo’s press secretary and the one-time chief of staff to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Despite his partisan background, he was fair and non-judgemental on his national political show; Meet the Press. He did his research and confronted his guests with questions that were well thought out.

Watching ABC’s coverage of Russert’s death and their tribute to him, the same opportunism for political gain was used. They played an interview with Vice President Cheney that he did at the beginning of the Iraq war. They showed the VP predicting that the war would not drag on for long. They could have shown the Vice President’s subsequent visits where he admitted to being wrong. They could have shown the close, light-hearted relationship the Vice President had with Russert, but they instead chose one 20-second clip to use in an election year for partisan reasons. Tim Russert would have been disgusted.

On the late night show hosted by Conan O’Brian, a show devoted to comedy, O’Brian started it on a somber note. He knew Tim Russert personally and had for 15 years. Like everyone who knew Tim personally, O’Brian had nothing but praise and good memories of the political newsman. This seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the day. Most people described Tim Russert as the opposite of pompous. He was not full of himself at all.

How does a guy who loved life, loved his job and loved his family die at 58? How does his elderly dad accept the fact that the son he was so close too, predeceased him? How does his wife and son understand that he passed a stress test successfully just two months before and now he is gone? There will be a lot of people who loved this guy who just can’t believe he is gone.

Tim Russert possessed all of the qualities that more people should have. We was a workaholic, but he balanced work and family. He was incredibly smart and wise, yet practiced enormous humility and graciousness. He considered himself blessed that he had the job he had and colleagues remembered that he could not contain his enthusiasm at times about that fact. He was even a devout Catholic and promised friends he would pray for them if they were facing medical problems.

His son Luke just graduated from Boston College. For Luke, Father’s Days will be a tough time each year. Father’s Day is on Sunday. For many, it will be the first Sunday in 17 years without their friend Tim Russert.