Brennan '96 joins Gingrich on MTV
"Personable" is how Jim Brennan '96 described Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., after appearing on MTV with the firebrand Speaker of the House. Brennan was one of six college-aged panelists who chatted with Gingrich about current political issues on the national music television network on Thursday night. At the outset, MTV wrongly labeled Brennan as a student from "Dartmouth University," causing many undergraduates at the College who watched the program to groan in disappointment. Brennan asked one of the first questions inquiring about the speaker's plans to balance the federal budget. "During the commercial breaks we talked about things like old television shows," Brennan said. "I asked him if he liked Hawaii 5-O, and then we talked about Jack Lord for ten minutes," he said. Brennan identified himself as the "most Republican" of the panelists and described the appearance as "a very interesting time." The 50-minute segment, called "Newt: Raw,"provided an opportunity for Gingrich, a potential presidential contender for 1996, to talk about his political views in front of a younger audience, where he often receives his lowest approval ratings. "I think [Gingrich] probably got points for making the appearance to talk with younger folks about current issues of interest to them," Brennan said. Issues discussed during the program included women's reproductive rights, welfare reform and proposed cuts in student loans. The other panelists, introduced by their first names and occupations only, included a painter from Virginia, a single mother on welfare from California, a writer for "Wired" magazine from San Francisco, a law school student from Chicago and a medical student from Kentucky.