Below The Beltway

One we get this pesky election out of the way, attention will turn to the really important question:

It is probably the second-most-pressing question circulating in the salons of Washington’s media elite: Who will be the permanent host, or hosts, of the NBC program “Meet the Press”?

It could be Chuck Todd, whose profile as political director of NBC News has risen noticeably during the network’s coverage of the presidential campaign, but whose low-key, conversational style doesn’t quite “crack the screen,” as one television executive put it this week. It could be David Gregory, a correspondent who has long been familiar to NBC viewers, but who has had trouble attracting viewers to his own program, “Race for the White House,” on MSNBC.

It could be both, as part of an ensemble, or it could be neither. Gwen Ifill, a former NBC correspondent who went on to PBS, has been approached by the president of NBC News to gauge her interest. And some at NBC still pine for Katie Couric, who, if many planets were somehow to align, could be back on a top-rated NBC morning show, albeit one that is broadcast just once a week.

Meanwhile, the names of the candidates’ backers and antagonists are as intriguing as those of the potential hosts themselves. Tom Brokaw has told some colleagues that he has been impressed with Mr. Todd. Mr. Gregory has struggled to get critical air time on “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” — in part, some colleagues say, because he can be as combative off camera as he can be at a White House press briefing.

NBC is expected to announce its decision sometime between Election Day and the end of the year, when Mr. Brokaw is scheduled to end his tour as interim host, a role he has played since shortly after the death of the program’s longtime moderator Tim Russert in June. The network has said little publicly about its deliberations, which have been set against the backdrop of the election — with the stock of some potential hosts rising, and others falling.

Those inside and outside the network who have been briefed on portions of the process said this week that it had been understandably difficult, given the oversize shoes being filled. As of yet, no obvious candidate has emerged from what in effect has been an unwieldy bake-off, with some of the leading candidates playing prominent roles in the network’s political coverage.

Personally, I’m rooting for Chuck Todd, mostly because he shares that same geeky love of politics and maps that Russert had.