He's been covering presidential campaigns since Ford-Carter '76. And as he gears up to anchor tonight's final presidential debate — anchoring his final debate — FNC's Washington managing editor Brit Hume is telling TVNewser why he's walking away. In a word: enthusiasm.

"This stuff exhausts me as much as it excites me," Hume told a small group of reporters gathered after a luncheon put on for advertisers at New York's 21 Club. "I think the worst thing you can do is hang on after you've lost your fastball and you're kind of not good anymore," he said.

So sometime after the election, he's not sure when, he'll walk away from his daily broadcast and the network he helped create. He's expected to continue on as a contributor. Hume sees his departure as a way for other Fox News talent to move up. "There's a need for movement at the top. If you have that then jobs open up, people grow and get better," he says, adding, "If you start to lose that you end up with an operation at which everything is fine until the day that all the people retire and all the good people under them have left because they had to wait too long."

Earlier during the luncheon, after an introduction from Fox News founder Roger Ailes [whom he called "the best boss I have ever had, and the best job I have ever had"] Hume discussed McCain-Obama: "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that the economy does not favor the republican candidate;" Politics in general: "My theory is that campaigns don't matter much." And he broke some news about what might be in store in FNC's Washington Bureau announcing the network may station a correspondent at the Treasury Department. "None of the network news divisions have anyone assigned to Treasury," he said.

So, what will Hume do with this free time. He's got some ideas...

Hume looks to his wife Kim, who retired as FNC's DC bureau chief two years ago, as his retirement role model. "She is leading the greatest life I've ever seen," Hume says.

Hume says he plans to "try to pursue my spiritual life." As he calls it his "walk with Christ." "It's something that really came to me when my son died 10 years ago. And it's been a big part of my life ever since."

Hume calls being a grandfather, "the purest love I've ever known." He says he looks forward to the day he can go to his grand-daughter's soccer game and not have to rush back to the studio.