Jack Germond, syndicated columnist and TV commentator, dead at 85 She told told friends in an e-mail that Mr. Germond had just completed a novel at their home overlooking the Shenandoah River. As Washington bureau chief of one of the leading newspaper chains in the country, Gannett, and later as a columnist for the Baltimore Sun, he was a dominant figure in political journalism. He spent nearly 25 years sharing a byline in newspapers and books with journalist Jules Witcover. Mr. Germond built a solid reputation for his aggressive pursuit of news, his skill as a storyteller, the high-level sources he cultivated in Washington and state capitals over 50 years and a vivid understanding of how the U.S. political system functioned for better and, often, for worse. While reveling in the persona of an ink-stained wretch - down to the poker playing and whiskey drinking - Mr. Germond was among the first of his breed to make the transition to television. He cut an unlikely TV figure, with a pugnacious manner, bald head and generous stomach, but his knowledge was unquestioned. The combination of his books, columns and appearances on such TV programs as "Today," "Meet the Press" and "The McLaughlin Group" made him a top interpreter of American politics. In a profession not known for the humility of its practitioners, Mr. Germond was often said to stand out for his self-deprecating wit. He appeared on "Today" while covering the 1972 presidential election, and host Tom Brokaw asked him about a small bandage near his earlobe. "A beautiful young stewardess lost her head and bit me," Mr. Germond said. "And immediately fell dead," Brokaw replied. Mr. Germond, who admired a good comeback, said he preferred Brokaw's quip to his own. He also poked fun at his girth in his memoir, "Fat Man in a Middle Seat: Forty Years of Covering Politics" (1999), and its follow-up, "Fat Man Fed Up: How American Politics Went Bad" (2004). In "Fat Man in a Middle Seat," he wrote of a career spent as a "leading advocate and practitioner of what the political scientists disparage as horse race journalism, which means putting the emphasis on the winners and losers rather than the Issues." "I would agree that voters need to be told where candidates stand, or pretend to stand, on their concerns," he continued. But a reporter who doesn't quickly tell the readers what they most want to know - the score - won't last long on the beat. Better he should teach political science. Scotch with RFK Mr. Germond initially made his mark in journalism as a political reporter in New York state for Gannett, covering the rise of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller (R) in the late 1950s. Mr. Germond became a national political writer in the 1960s and reported on presidential candidates, including Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), Vice President Hubert Humphrey (D) and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), with whom he said he "got pretty stiff" on Scotch during a plane ride after a campaign stop.