She is Meghan McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and she is the voice of sanity in the Republican Party. See her speech to the Log Cabin Republicans--gay Republicans, for the politically uninitiated. Like the USS Enterprise, Meghan McCain goes where no Republican has gone before. Said McCain:
There are those who think we can win the White House and Congress back by being “more” conservative. Worse, there are those who think we can win by changing nothing at all about what our party has become. They just want to wait for the other side to be perceived as worse than us. I think we’re seeing a war brewing in the Republican party, but it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past. I believe most people are ready to move on... to that future.
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.
It won't happen for awhile, but it's going to happen some day. As the prophet Jeremiah might put it, "Days are coming when the word 'moderate' will not be the kiss of political death in the Republican Party." When that day comes, the GOP will again be competitive as a national party.
Brilliantly said! I sure hope she (or someone with similar views) comes into power sometime soon. I don't like feeling like I CAN'T vote Republican, simply for the sake of "democracy".
Posted by: Rachel Hallowell | April 19, 2009 at 03:22 PM
Me neither. I suspect it might take a few election cycles before they finally start to break out of the hard right.
Posted by: John Petty | April 20, 2009 at 12:23 PM
I guess I don't get the Meghan thing. I hope that this phenomenon doesn't set a precedent for the daughters of failed presidential candidates to appear endlessly on cable news. (Karenna Gore Schiff was cleverer, less inclined to lecture, and not nearly as overexposed. Far prettier, too.)
Miss Maverick may want to watch those inane burblings on Twitter if she wants to lead her party out of the wilderness. Let's hope she leads her party to victory just like Dad. It'll be great for the Dems.
Posted by: Hypatia | April 22, 2009 at 06:38 PM
She's the first Republican to stand up and say she's a moderate and doesn't want to be a gay-basher. Such is the state of the Republican Party today. I give her credit for that.
What do you think, hyp? We obviously have a Democratic ascendency, but I have some questions:
Is it "stable"? What happens when the GOP goes more moderate--it will have to some day--where will the right go? Is there some kind of post-Perot constituency that could be socially moderate and fiscally conservative? What effect would that have on the Dems?
Or, will it be a solid Democratic governing majority for the next twenty years?
Posted by: John Petty | April 22, 2009 at 08:44 PM
I think there are a lot of people in the GOP who know which way the wind is blowing on the cultural wedge issues. The problem for them is that the shock troops of the Republican revolution don't feel that way. Cut them loose from the party, though, and you don't have much left except people who have gay friends but don't want to pay taxes and don't like poor folk.
As for the Dems,everything is going their way right now - opposition in disarray, demographic trends, etc. All seems to be in place for a long period of dominance. Obama seems intent on not doing anything that will put his re-election at risk. Looks good, sort of.
Posted by: Hypatia | April 23, 2009 at 06:35 PM
Yeah, that's how I read it too.
Posted by: John Petty | April 23, 2009 at 06:49 PM