Meghan McCain
Encyclopedia
Meghan Marguerite McCain (born October 23, 1984) is an American
columnist, author, and blogger. She is a daughter of U.S. Senator
John McCain
and Cindy Hensley McCain
. McCain first received media attention in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, on which she documented life on the campaign trail
and mused about fashion
, music
, and pop culture
. In 2009, she became a contributing author for The Daily Beast
, and in 2011, began appearing as a contributor on MSNBC
.
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McCain is the oldest of the four children of John and Cindy Hensley McCain
. She has been a public figure for most of her life, appearing at the 1996 Republican National Convention
.
She was raised in Phoenix, Arizona
, and attended Phoenix Country Day School and Xavier College Preparatory
, an all-girl Catholic
high school. She attended Columbia University
, where she earned her bachelor's degree
in art history
. McCain originally planned to become a music journalist
and interned at Newsweek
and Saturday Night Live
.
on social issues". She registered as an Independent when she was 18 years old and she voted for John Kerry
in the 2004 presidential election
. She agrees with her father's positions on global warming
and stem-cell research. At first she had doubts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq
but subsequently supported her father's position regarding it. She has stated she is pro-life
, in favor of sex education
and birth control
. She has chastised conservatives for hypocrisy regarding abortion: "They go on and on about how evil and wrong abortion is, but don't like to talk about how easy it is to not get pregnant."
McCain objected to the Arizona SB1070 anti-illegal immigration law, which her father supported.
She has commented that the cause of the gay community
for equality
is "one of the ones closest to my heart". As such, she spoke at the Log Cabin Republicans
convention in April 2009. There she encapsulated her cultural and political perspectives with the declaration: "I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people's lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock
. I believe in a strong national defense
. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And, yes, I am a Republican." She supports same-sex marriage
and gay adoption. In June 2009, McCain posed for the NOH8 Campaign
, a celebrity photo project that protests California's Proposition 8 constitutional amendment
banning same-sex marriage, which her mother Cindy also posed for. She was in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell
and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.
In terms of economic policy, she has remarked on The Rachel Maddow Show
that "I didn't even take Econ[omics] in college. I don't completely understand it so I'd hate to make a comment one way or the other. That's – truly of all the things – I keep reading and I just don't understand it."
. She said she did so "as a symbol of my commitment to my Dad and to represent the faith I have in his ability to be an effective leader for our country and to grow and strengthen the Republican party when he is elected President of the United States."
In her book, Dirty Sexy Politics, McCain talks about how she nearly overdosed on Xanax on the day of the elections.
In 2008, she published a book titled My Dad, John McCain
. In an interview on Larry King Live
in September 2008, McCain stated that she has been too busy to have a romantic relationship while on her father's campaign trail. Although her blogging was devoted towards gaining support for her father among the Generation Z
electorate, by October, Steve Schmidt
and other McCain campaign staffers had banished her into semi-exile on the campaign.
in January 2009.
In March 2009, McCain wrote an article for The Daily Beast titled My Beef With Ann Coulter. In this article, she questioned Republican support for conservative author and columnist Ann Coulter
. While Coulter did not respond, conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham
challenged McCain's article by comparing her to a "Valley Girl." Ingraham also mocked McCain, stating, "Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in The Real World
, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models." McCain responded to Ingraham in a second article for The Daily Beast titled, Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham stating, "Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school." McCain also stated on The View that she thought the change in discourse towards her body was "terrible" and further argued: "When Tyra Banks
went on her show
in a bathing suit and said 'kiss my fat ass,' that's what I feel like. Kiss my fat ass!" Ingraham responded by calling McCain a "useful idiot." During a later interview on Larry King Live
, McCain said that as far as she is concerned, "with what's going on with Laura Ingraham, on my end, it's over." She also told King that Coulter never responded to her article, which she stated, "is fine with me. ... All I wanted to do is show women that you don't have to be Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham to have a place in the Republican Party. ... Supriya Jindal is a good role model, but a lot of people hadn't heard of her."
In April 2009, she signed a six-figure book deal with Hyperion
. Some 18,000 people were following her on Twitter
. She described her aims in this way: "All I am trying to be is a young, cool Republican woman for other Republican women." The Politico
stated that while John McCain did not emerge from the 2008 election victorious, "his Bud Light-drinking, talk-show-appearing, insouciantly Twitter
ing 24-year-old daughter" did. Speaking at the 2009 Log Cabin Republican Convention, McCain said there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" between the past and the future, and that "Most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future." She followed that by saying her enjoyment of Twitter was diminished by the presence of top Republican strategist Karl Rove
, saying "I can't shake the fact that Karl Rove is following me – it can be creepy" and "We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people."
Statements such as these led news reports and commentators including Rachel Maddow
and Kathleen Parker
to conclude that McCain had the same "maverick gene" as her father. Following the April 2009 party switch by Senator Arlen Specter
from Republican to Democratic
, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh
suggested that many Republicans wished both John McCain and Meghan McCain would leave too. Meghan McCain's tweet in response was, "RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!! I love the republican party enough to give it constructive criticism, I love my party and sure as hell not leavin!" On a May 2009 episode of the Colbert Report, she stated her support for sex education
and criticized Bristol Palin
's sexual abstinence
campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation". McCain also stated her own desires for the Republican Party: "It can be a party for a 24-year-old pro-sex woman. It can be." After John McCain campaign fixture Joe the Plumber
made some anti-gay
remarks (saying he would not have “queers ... anywhere near my children”) in mid-2009, Meghan McCain took aim at him, saying "Joe the Plumber – you can quote me – is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing." In September 2009 and February 2010, McCain had repeat stints as guest co-host of The View. In September 2010, she appeared on the NPR
news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and won a prize for a listener.
Her campaign memoir, Dirty Sexy Politics, was published in September 2010. In it she finally unleashes her feelings about Sarah Palin
and describes the ups and downs she experienced with the McCain campaign staff. She states that the Republican Party seemed "to have lost its way in the last ten years", that the conservative movement seemed "hell-bent on restricting our freedoms rather than expanding them", and that within the Republican Party, she felt a certain stress to take over the ideas of others, like Mitt Romney
, especially regarding same-sex marriage, which was a danger for the existence of the party. The book also serves as a coming-of-age narrative about herself, where she comes across as genuine and candid, yet also naïve and brash. However, other reviews were more scathing. Leon H. Wolf wrote "It is impossible to read Dirty, Sexy Politics and come away with the impression that you have read anything other than the completely unedited ramblings of an idiot.". During the promotional tour for the book, McCain cancelled an appearance at Juniata College
due to what she called, "unforeseen professional circumstances." However, according to her Twitter, she was actually in Las Vegas on a girl's weekend, as she got over a boyfriend ending their relationship via e-mail.
Meghan has been harpooned and criticized by the political blogosphere. In September 2011, McCain's lawyers asked RedState
to take down posts that were parodying her commentary, as they made her appear buffoonish and arrogant. In November 2011, McCain became an analyst on MSNBC
, and immediately got into a back-and-forth with 2012 Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich
. In commentary on this, Gawker referred to her as "noted idiot Meghan McCain" and observed of her first outing that "she 'bets [her] career' that Newt Gingrich won't win the GOP nomination. What career."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
columnist, author, and blogger. She is a daughter of U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Cindy Hensley McCain
Cindy Hensley McCain
Cindy Lou Hensley McCain is an American businesswoman, and philanthropist, and the wife of United States Senator and 2000 and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona....
. McCain first received media attention in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, on which she documented life on the campaign trail
John McCain presidential campaign, 2008
John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 presidential election. His candidacy, in the works for a number of years, was informally announced on February 28, 2007 during a...
and mused about fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and pop culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. In 2009, she became a contributing author for The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
, and in 2011, began appearing as a contributor on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
.
Early life
Cindy Hensley McCain
Cindy Lou Hensley McCain is an American businesswoman, and philanthropist, and the wife of United States Senator and 2000 and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona....
. She has been a public figure for most of her life, appearing at the 1996 Republican National Convention
1996 Republican National Convention
The 1996 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996...
.
She was raised in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, and attended Phoenix Country Day School and Xavier College Preparatory
Xavier College Preparatory
Xavier College Preparatory is a Catholic, all-female private high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, drawing students from 120 local schools and transfer students from around the world.-History:...
, an all-girl Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
high school. She attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where she earned her bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
. McCain originally planned to become a music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
and interned at Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
Political positions
McCain says that she is "a woman who despises labels and boxes and stereotypes." McCain has also described herself as a Republican who is "liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
on social issues". She registered as an Independent when she was 18 years old and she voted for John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
in the 2004 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. She agrees with her father's positions on global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and stem-cell research. At first she had doubts about the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
but subsequently supported her father's position regarding it. She has stated she is pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
, in favor of sex education
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
and birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
. She has chastised conservatives for hypocrisy regarding abortion: "They go on and on about how evil and wrong abortion is, but don't like to talk about how easy it is to not get pregnant."
McCain objected to the Arizona SB1070 anti-illegal immigration law, which her father supported.
She has commented that the cause of the gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
for equality
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
is "one of the ones closest to my heart". As such, she spoke at the Log Cabin Republicans
Log Cabin Republicans
The Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C...
convention in April 2009. There she encapsulated her cultural and political perspectives with the declaration: "I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people's lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. I believe in a strong national defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And, yes, I am a Republican." She supports same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and gay adoption. In June 2009, McCain posed for the NOH8 Campaign
NOH8 Campaign
The NOH8 Campaign is a silent protest photo project against California Proposition 8. The campaign features photographs portraying people in front of a white backdrop wearing white t-shirts, their mouths taped shut and "NOH8" painted on their cheek. The campaign was created on February 1, 2009, by...
, a celebrity photo project that protests California's Proposition 8 constitutional amendment
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
banning same-sex marriage, which her mother Cindy also posed for. She was in favor of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
and allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.
In terms of economic policy, she has remarked on The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show (TV series)
The Rachel Maddow Show is a news and opinion television program that airs weeknights on MSNBC at 9:00 p.m. ET. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained popularity with her frequent appearances as a liberal pundit on various MSNBC programs. It is based on her former radio show of the same name...
that "I didn't even take Econ[omics] in college. I don't completely understand it so I'd hate to make a comment one way or the other. That's – truly of all the things – I keep reading and I just don't understand it."
2008 presidential election
On June 12, 2008, McCain wrote on her blog that she had changed her party registration to RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. She said she did so "as a symbol of my commitment to my Dad and to represent the faith I have in his ability to be an effective leader for our country and to grow and strengthen the Republican party when he is elected President of the United States."
In her book, Dirty Sexy Politics, McCain talks about how she nearly overdosed on Xanax on the day of the elections.
In 2008, she published a book titled My Dad, John McCain
My Dad, John McCain
My Dad, John McCain is an illustrated children's book based on the life of John McCain. Written by his daughter, Meghan McCain, and published through Aladdin Paperbacks, it was released on September 2, 2008. The book's images were illustrated by Dan Andreasen...
. In an interview on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
in September 2008, McCain stated that she has been too busy to have a romantic relationship while on her father's campaign trail. Although her blogging was devoted towards gaining support for her father among the Generation Z
Generation Z
Generation Z is a common name in the US and other Western nations for the group of people born from the early 1990s through to the present....
electorate, by October, Steve Schmidt
Steve Schmidt
Steve Schmidt is an American campaign strategist and public relations worker for the U.S. Republican Party. He specializes in political "message development and strategy"...
and other McCain campaign staffers had banished her into semi-exile on the campaign.
Subsequent career
McCain is currently a blogger, and began writing for The Daily BeastThe Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
in January 2009.
In March 2009, McCain wrote an article for The Daily Beast titled My Beef With Ann Coulter. In this article, she questioned Republican support for conservative author and columnist Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
. While Coulter did not respond, conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
challenged McCain's article by comparing her to a "Valley Girl." Ingraham also mocked McCain, stating, "Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in The Real World
The Real World
The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models." McCain responded to Ingraham in a second article for The Daily Beast titled, Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham stating, "Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school." McCain also stated on The View that she thought the change in discourse towards her body was "terrible" and further argued: "When Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
went on her show
The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show, also known as and shortened to Tyra or The Tyra Show, is an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks. The last new episode aired on Friday, May 28, 2010.-2005-2009: Syndication:...
in a bathing suit and said 'kiss my fat ass,' that's what I feel like. Kiss my fat ass!" Ingraham responded by calling McCain a "useful idiot." During a later interview on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, McCain said that as far as she is concerned, "with what's going on with Laura Ingraham, on my end, it's over." She also told King that Coulter never responded to her article, which she stated, "is fine with me. ... All I wanted to do is show women that you don't have to be Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham to have a place in the Republican Party. ... Supriya Jindal is a good role model, but a lot of people hadn't heard of her."
In April 2009, she signed a six-figure book deal with Hyperion
Hyperion (publisher)
Hyperion Books is a general-interest book publishing part of the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company, established in 1991. Hyperion publishes general-interest fiction and non-fiction books for adults under the following imprints: ABC Daytime Press, ESPN Books,...
. Some 18,000 people were following her on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. She described her aims in this way: "All I am trying to be is a young, cool Republican woman for other Republican women." The Politico
The Politico
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
stated that while John McCain did not emerge from the 2008 election victorious, "his Bud Light-drinking, talk-show-appearing, insouciantly Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
ing 24-year-old daughter" did. Speaking at the 2009 Log Cabin Republican Convention, McCain said there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" between the past and the future, and that "Most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future." She followed that by saying her enjoyment of Twitter was diminished by the presence of top Republican strategist Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, saying "I can't shake the fact that Karl Rove is following me – it can be creepy" and "We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people."
Statements such as these led news reports and commentators including Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Anne Maddow is an American television host and political commentator. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio...
and Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker
Kathleen Parker is an American syndicated columnist. Her columns are syndicated nationally by The Washington Post. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, and is a regular guest on television shows like The O'Reilly Factor and The Chris Matthews Show....
to conclude that McCain had the same "maverick gene" as her father. Following the April 2009 party switch by Senator Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
from Republican to Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
suggested that many Republicans wished both John McCain and Meghan McCain would leave too. Meghan McCain's tweet in response was, "RED TIL I'M DEAD BABY!!! I love the republican party enough to give it constructive criticism, I love my party and sure as hell not leavin!" On a May 2009 episode of the Colbert Report, she stated her support for sex education
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
and criticized Bristol Palin
Bristol Palin
Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin is the second child and oldest daughter of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd....
's sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical or religious reasons.Common reasons for practicing sexual abstinence include:*poor health - medical celibacy...
campaign, saying it was "not realistic for this generation". McCain also stated her own desires for the Republican Party: "It can be a party for a 24-year-old pro-sex woman. It can be." After John McCain campaign fixture Joe the Plumber
Joe the Plumber
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher , is a conservative activist, author, and commentator. A resident of Holland, Ohio, United States, he gained significant attention during the 2008 U.S. presidential election after he was videotaped questioning then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama about his small...
made some anti-gay
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
remarks (saying he would not have “queers ... anywhere near my children”) in mid-2009, Meghan McCain took aim at him, saying "Joe the Plumber – you can quote me – is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing." In September 2009 and February 2010, McCain had repeat stints as guest co-host of The View. In September 2010, she appeared on the NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and won a prize for a listener.
Her campaign memoir, Dirty Sexy Politics, was published in September 2010. In it she finally unleashes her feelings about Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
and describes the ups and downs she experienced with the McCain campaign staff. She states that the Republican Party seemed "to have lost its way in the last ten years", that the conservative movement seemed "hell-bent on restricting our freedoms rather than expanding them", and that within the Republican Party, she felt a certain stress to take over the ideas of others, like Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, especially regarding same-sex marriage, which was a danger for the existence of the party. The book also serves as a coming-of-age narrative about herself, where she comes across as genuine and candid, yet also naïve and brash. However, other reviews were more scathing. Leon H. Wolf wrote "It is impossible to read Dirty, Sexy Politics and come away with the impression that you have read anything other than the completely unedited ramblings of an idiot.". During the promotional tour for the book, McCain cancelled an appearance at Juniata College
Juniata College
Juniata College is a private liberal arts college located in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Juniata River — one of the principal tributaries of the Susquehanna River. In 1876 it became the first college founded by the Church of the Brethren and has been co-educational since...
due to what she called, "unforeseen professional circumstances." However, according to her Twitter, she was actually in Las Vegas on a girl's weekend, as she got over a boyfriend ending their relationship via e-mail.
Meghan has been harpooned and criticized by the political blogosphere. In September 2011, McCain's lawyers asked RedState
RedState
RedState is a conservative American political weblog.The site is currently a subsidiary of Eagle Publishing, Inc., a conservative publishing house which also owns Regnery Publishing and the weekly magazine Human Events...
to take down posts that were parodying her commentary, as they made her appear buffoonish and arrogant. In November 2011, McCain became an analyst on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and immediately got into a back-and-forth with 2012 Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
. In commentary on this, Gawker referred to her as "noted idiot Meghan McCain" and observed of her first outing that "she 'bets [her] career' that Newt Gingrich won't win the GOP nomination. What career."
Writings
- McCain, Meghan (2008), My Dad, John McCainMy Dad, John McCainMy Dad, John McCain is an illustrated children's book based on the life of John McCain. Written by his daughter, Meghan McCain, and published through Aladdin Paperbacks, it was released on September 2, 2008. The book's images were illustrated by Dan Andreasen...
, Aladdin PaperbacksAladdin PaperbacksAladdin Paperbacks is one of several children's-book imprints owned by Simon & Schuster.It was established by Jean E. Karl at Atheneum Books where she was the founding director of the children's department . Atheneum merged with or was acquired by Scribner's in 1978, then MacMillan in 1984, before...
. ISBN 1-41697-528-4 - McCain, Meghan (2010), Dirty Sexy Politics, Hyperion. ISBN 1-40132-377-4
External links
- McCain Blogette
- Column archives at The Daily BeastThe Daily BeastThe Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...