This morning, Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) on Meet The Press did just a marginal job in handling the matter of Obama changing his position on public campaign financing. Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina) simply out-scored him on points during that early round. In a later round, this time on the subject of our dependence on oil and Senator McCain’s recent flip-flop on drilling for it off our coastlines, I thought Biden was much more on target and scored some powerful body blows. Until I read Thomas L. Friedman’s Op-Ed piece in this morning’s New York Times. The article is brilliant, and makes so many excellent points that Biden simply didn’t cover. Had he done so, it would have been closer to a knockout punch. Click here for the link: Article. On the subject of Tim Russert’s passing, some thoughts: 1. As a longtime, regular viewer of Meet The Press (particularly in the last year, leading into the presidential elections), it was jarring to hear about him dying from a massive heart attack. But certainly not a shock. I saw him and his son Luke at last year’s MLB playoff game (#7 at Fenway Park); we sat a few seats apart. While you certainly didn’t need to see him in person to know that he was a really big guy, in person he’s just a ‘bear’ of a man. Tim’s body-mass index (BMI) was no doubt sky high. So while it was a bit disconcerting to learn from his internist that he was on medication to keep his blood pressure and cholesterol in check and was supposedly on an exercise regimen, he was easily substantially 'overweight’ by any standard.2. But the real 'shock’ was the incredible amount of outpouring of emotions in the aftermath of Tim Russert’s death. We spent a lot of time watching MSNBC coverage and it was simply stunning how many people were truly touched by this guy. In all phases of his life, personal and professional. To sum this up, I am in awe of this. It has touched me deeply.