With just five weeks until the election, a man known for his love of politics and tough questions is being remembered.

Tim Russert -- the late moderator of Meet the Press -- visited Notre Dame in April.

He talked about mainstream journalism and how, now more than ever, Americans have outlets of information of which they fail to take advantage.

Our news analyst, Bob Schmuhl -- who has sat in with Russert on Meet the Press -- says Russert was the ultimate journalist who always let voters know how historic this election is.

With a chuckle, Russert says, "I read left, I read right, I read center, and many of my friends say I confuse myself. They might be right."

"It's not enough to simply confirm your political views by only watching or accessing outlets that reinforce our views and do not challenge them."

Schmuhl says, "He was trying to say don't put aside the paper, the television networks, and news magazines. Look at them and analyze them."

Russert says, "A leader cannot make good decisions unless he or she is asked tough questions. It is the only vehicle that brings them to closure, that forces any sense of intellectual rigidity."

"I think it is imperative that an independent journalist, someone who is trying to ascertain to the very best of his or her ability, what is the truth of the candidates positions, what is their consistency, what is their intellectual graph and understanding of issues confronting us."

Schmuhl says, "Certainly the interviews he conducted on Meet the Press were models of that. He loved to show the statements they had made previously and how maybe what they were saying today has a variance with what they had said before. Tim Russert is so sorely missed as we approach the election. We need to continue to ask those kinds of questions. There's an awful lot at stake in this political season."

Notre Dame posted several clips of Tim Russert's speech on YouTube.