By Menachem Wecker
In the course of a 30-minute talk and an hour question-and-answer period, the self-declared new face of the Republican Party discussed health care, Afghanistan, gay marriage, Kanye West, Joe Wilson (of “You lie!” fame), Jersey Shore, Mel Gibson and the Real World.
Speaking to about 100 people at the Jack Morton Auditorium, Meghan McCain, daughter of former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, spoke about the challenges of being (and dating as) the daughter of a politician and about her vision for the Republican Party as a conservative who supports same-sex marriage.
“Sometimes I say provocative things, because I mean them. I’m not Ann Coulter. I’m not Glenn Beck,” said Ms. McCain in the event which was jointly sponsored by Allied in Pride, the Graduate School of Political Management Student Association, Log Cabin Republicans, Program Board, the Student Association, Lambda Law and Phi Alpha Delta.
“I love speaking at colleges. It has not been that long since I was in college,” said Ms. McCain, who wrote the blog McCainBlogette.com during her father’s presidential bid and now writes for the blog The Daily Beast.
Ms. McCain said her father’s campaign has given her “an amazing platform” for starting dialogues, which is why she was surprised to find a controversy stirred up when a student group at GW that had initially promoted the event backed down. She said it was particularly ironic given her chosen topic of civility.
“Incivility is everywhere we turn,” she said, “especially in politics.”
According to Ms. McCain, the Obama campaign’s embrace of new and social media reflected a keen understanding of the emergence of a significant youth vote. She encouraged her generation, Generation Y, which she said is “chock full of excitement,” to speak up for itself. “I actually had to come up with the term ‘progressive Republican’ myself,” she said.
The youth vote could mobilize on social media, she said. “If you don’t follow me on Twitter, Facebook or The Daily Beast, I hope you will.”
“I’m a Republican who does not believe all the facets of my party line,” Ms. McCain said, calling for a re-energized Republican party “infused with new blood” to rise up as it did in the 1980s. But she stressed, “I’m not saying let’s abandon the core values that the Republican Party was built on.”
Part of the problem is that today’s political process – when filtered through the media, which “is not doing its job” – is alienating young people, according to Ms. McCain. “Keith Olbermann is doing just as much damage as Rush Limbaugh,” she said. Both are “doing permanent damage” to the new generation, which is becoming apathetic to politics.
Being a progressive Republican involves navigating the middle ground. “I’m asking the Republican Party to embrace us. We need you, and you need us,” she said.
However conservative she is today, Ms. McCain arrived at her Republican affiliation “the long way,” she said. At age 18, she rebelled by registering as an independent, but her plan backfired when her father told her he was proud of her independent thinking. In 2004, she voted for Sen. John Kerry, Ms. McCain said, though she now calls it a mistake which she ascribes to her inexperience. While campaigning for her father, Ms. McCain fell in love with the political process and with her father’s party, she said. Two years ago, she registered Republican as a Father’s Day gift to her dad, “but it’s been more of a gift to myself.”
“I wish everyone in this room could feel what your father running for president feels like,” she said. “It’s impossible not to be changed by that.”
Ms. McCain has also been very affected by new media, a fondness she discovered blogging on the campaign trail. “With a single click of a button you can start a whole movement,” she said.
But being thrown into the limelight has its downside, like when conservative radio host Laura Ingraham attacked her physical appearance. “All of a sudden I was too fat to be a Republican,” Ms. McCain said. “That just makes me feel good. I’m too fat to be an elephant.”
Ms. McCain’s response to Ms. Ingraham was to stand her ground. “We shouldn’t let pundits twice our age speak for us,” she said. “Move over GOP, because I’m not going anywhere.”
Questions from the audience touched on a variety of issues. Ms. McCain told one student that the evangelical movement is not as powerful as it used to be, or her father would be living down the street at the White House. In response to a question from GW Today, she said that contrary to reports that the youth who helped elect President Barack Obama have since disengaged, young people are still very involved in politics and represent a significant community.
She told another questioner, “Start talking to me about Afghanistan and health care, and you will see how Republican I am!”
Several students sympathized with Ms. McCain over a protest responding to the event and her support of same-sex marriage. “I called my dad. I said, ‘I’ve got protestors for the first time ever,’” she said. But when she realized the protestors were serving lemonade and cake, Ms. McCain decided the protest was unworthy of her. “There’d better not be freshmen!” she said.
Ms. McCain told another student that the politicians she looks up to are Senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. She told another questioner, “I’m very pro-life, which is why I’m pro-birth control and sex education!” A reporter wanted to know why the event was closed to press. “The students at George Washington University paid for this. I think student media should get first dibs,” she said.
In response to another question, Ms. McCain said she hates to date, noting that the men she has dated have either been groupies of her father who engage in “hero worship,” or they supported President Obama, which leaves her wondering, “What wasn’t good enough for you?”
“I need therapy over it,” she said, lamenting the major problem she encounters: “Everyone Googles everything.” When she looked at the Facebook page of one person she was going on a date with, Ms. McCain saw photos of him fist pumping at a rally for President Obama. “I want to ask Jenna Bush what she does,” she said.
“Sorry if that’s too much information,” Ms. McCain said. If the crowd’s applause was any indication, it was anything but.