USD Magazine, Fall 1996

0 ver the summer, Joe Brenckle '96 lost a job opportu–

they immediately assigned him to guest relations, which involved getting scheduled guests up to the booth and sometimes con– vincing political leaders to be interviewed. That's how Brenckle met Jesse

nity but gained the experi– ence of a lifetime. Yearning to work in the nation's capital after graduation, he hoped to work for Sen. Frank Murkowski from his home state of Alaska. But that job search fizzled and along with it his plans to move from Marian Way

Jackson. As Jackson walked off the stage from his speech, Brenckle stepped up and asked the leader if he wanted to join his son in an interview hap– pening right then. Jackson agreed but was stopped by so many admirers that his son's inter– view was over by the time he and Brenckle reached the MS– NBC booth. Jackson went on anyway. Though these brushes with fame were exciting, Brenckle says the most memorable moments at both conventions were hearing the political leaders speak. In San Diego, he joined the Alaska delega– tion in a private talk with Pat Buchanan, who won the state's straw poll for the Republican presidential candidate. With just 30 other people in the room, it was a rare opportunity to see politics up close and personal. When Elizabeth Dole stepped away from the podium to give her speech at the Republican convention, Brenckle was on the convention floor, kneeling in front of the Mississippi delegation so he didn't disrupt their view. And on the last day of the Demo– cratic convention, in exchange for rounding up a makeup person at the last minute for MS-NBC, Brenckle got a floor pass in time to hear President Clinton speak. "I pushed my way to the front of the California delegation," says Brenckle, his eyes shining at the memory. "I was about 35 feet from the stage and I could see Clinton perfectly. When his speech was done, all the glitter came down and - snap - like that, it was over. I almost went through withdrawal." It's no surprise that Brenckle wrangled himself yet another politi– cal job helping with the planning efforts of the final presidential debate Oct. 16 at USO. He mentions the inauguration in his next breath, speculating that extra workers will be needed for that event. Perhaps the inauguration will be Brenckle's first step in Wash– ington, but it surely won't be his last. "D.C. is my dream," he says. "I have Potomac fever."

to the Beltway. Now Brenckle had nothing but time on his hands in San Diego. Just his luck. But what great luck. Instead of spending the sum– mer holed up in a Washington, D.C., office, Brenckle found himself first in San Diego, then Chicago, sharing space with nation– al political leaders including Jesse Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan and, yes, even Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton. His luck started to improve in July when NBC contacted USD seeking students to work at the Republican National Convention. Brenckle mailed his resume within hours and was hired soon after to set up the computers in the NBC booth. "It was basically grunt work," says Brenckle, who describes his personal politics as leaning toward Democratic. "But I got to see the convention center go from a blank canvas to the incredible Republican National Convention set. I got to go up to the podium before it was secured. I sat in Tom Brokaw's chair when the booth was all set up. I drove past Andy Rooney. I saw Steve Forbes and Colin Powell, and I literally ran into Oliver North." With such luminaries around every corner, security was airtight, which forced Brenckle to use his ingenuity. Like the time Tom Brokaw wanted two apples. Security refused Brenckle's entrance to the convention center with the produce because, they said, the apples could be used as armed projectiles in the convention hall. Brenckle argued to no avail. He instead took the apples to the delivery entrance where he waited with vendors carting huge crates of food. Brenckle and his two apples got in. For the Democratic National Convention, Brenckle was hired by MS-NBC, the new 24-hour news channel. He arrived in Chicago without an assignment, so he set out first to memorize the United Center floor plan. When he told the producers he had done that,

- Trisha J. Ratledge

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