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By CHARLES BABINGTON and MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press


      WASHINGTON (AP) — David Broder, the Pulitzer-Prize winning
Washington Post political columnist whose even-handed treatment of
Democrats and Republicans set him apart from the ideological
warriors on the nation's op-ed pages, died Wednesday. He was 81.


      Post officials said Broder died of complications from diabetes.


      Broder, an Illinois native, was familiar to television viewers
as a frequent panelist on NBC's "Meet the Press" Program. He
appeared on the program more than 400 times, far more than any
other journalist in the show's history.


      To newspaper readers, he was one of the nation's most prominent
syndicated columnists. A September 2007 study by the liberal media
watchdog group Media Matters found that Broder was second among
columnists only to George Will in the combined circulation of
newspapers in which his column appeared.


      He was the only one of the top five that the group did not label
as either conservative or liberal.


      "His even-handed approach has never wavered. He'd make a good
umpire," wrote Alan Shear, editorial director of the Washington
Post Writers Group, which syndicated Broder's column. "Dave is
neither left nor right, and can't even be called reliably centrist.
He reports exhaustively and his conclusions are grounded in hard
facts."


      One of his hallmarks was a special effort to meet lots of
average citizens who, in the end, really decide elections. In a
1991 lecture, Broder said reporters should spend "a lot of time
with voters ... walking precincts, knocking on doors, talking to
people in their living rooms. If we really got clearly in our heads
what it is voters are concerned about, it might be possible to let
their agenda drive our agenda.
      

Gallery

David Broder, the Pulitzer-Prize winning
Washington Post political columnist whose even-handed treatment of
Democrats and Republicans set him apart from the ideological
warriors on the nation's op-ed pages, died Wednesday. He was 81.

Washington Post: Columnist David Broder dead at 81

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