Meghan McCain & The Republican Party
It says a lot about our country when you read an article about Meghan McCain and most of the reader comments deal with her weight rather than her opinions. Out.com recently published an article called "Meghan McCain Will Be Heard," an examination of 2008 presidential candidate John McCain's daughter and her belief that you can be pro-gay marriage and still be a Republican. Since the election McCain has been making the rounds on the TV circuit (The View, Larry King Live, and The Colbert Report to name a few) touting her support of gay marriage and establishing herself as the anti-Ann Coulter.
The problem is, nobody's been taking her seriously - she's been dismissed by The New York Times and Rush Limbaugh alike. This is not so surprising; her style is similar to Sarah Palin in that she tries to be approachable and conversational. But there's a difference between her and Palin: McCain doesn't come off as a rambling moron. Watching Palin's bizarre retirement speech was one of the more surreal experiences of 2009 (it was so nonsensical William Shatner appeared on The Tonight Show to perform the speech as a poem, to brilliant effect) - and one of the most frightening, because people still support her tooth and nail, buying her absurd claims that stepping down as governor after only half a term is the sort of move a maverick would make (the proper term for it is "quitting").
Why, then, does Palin still garner support while McCain does not? First of all, supporting gays in any way is unpopular - President Barack Obama still hasn't made any effort to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Second, McCain isn't polished like a true politician; she wears T-shirts and jeans instead of suits. Third, the Republican party refuses to move forward into the new century, clutching to outdated and prejudiced religious beliefs. This stale political platform has led to the widespread (and dangerous) belief that, should you differ from the party in any way, you are not a true Republican.
True, it might be hard to take someone who looks more like a sorority girl than a politician seriously. True, she has no political experience. But it would be a mistake to dismiss her as a closet Democrat or a "plus-size model" (to quote Laura Ingraham). Meghan McCain is, to these eyes, the only figure in the Republican party actively trying to change its ways and bring it into the 21st century. Sarah Palin, meet a real maverick.
The problem is, nobody's been taking her seriously - she's been dismissed by The New York Times and Rush Limbaugh alike. This is not so surprising; her style is similar to Sarah Palin in that she tries to be approachable and conversational. But there's a difference between her and Palin: McCain doesn't come off as a rambling moron. Watching Palin's bizarre retirement speech was one of the more surreal experiences of 2009 (it was so nonsensical William Shatner appeared on The Tonight Show to perform the speech as a poem, to brilliant effect) - and one of the most frightening, because people still support her tooth and nail, buying her absurd claims that stepping down as governor after only half a term is the sort of move a maverick would make (the proper term for it is "quitting").
Why, then, does Palin still garner support while McCain does not? First of all, supporting gays in any way is unpopular - President Barack Obama still hasn't made any effort to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Second, McCain isn't polished like a true politician; she wears T-shirts and jeans instead of suits. Third, the Republican party refuses to move forward into the new century, clutching to outdated and prejudiced religious beliefs. This stale political platform has led to the widespread (and dangerous) belief that, should you differ from the party in any way, you are not a true Republican.
True, it might be hard to take someone who looks more like a sorority girl than a politician seriously. True, she has no political experience. But it would be a mistake to dismiss her as a closet Democrat or a "plus-size model" (to quote Laura Ingraham). Meghan McCain is, to these eyes, the only figure in the Republican party actively trying to change its ways and bring it into the 21st century. Sarah Palin, meet a real maverick.