Print' ! Financial!Times!Magazine! http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/59789a0aH4677H11e3H9487H00144feabdc0.html#axzz2k65WmMMP! !
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! Meghan!McCain,!talkHshow!host!and!daughter!of!2008!Republican!presidential!nominee!John!McCain,! is!sitting!in!a!Manhattan!restaurant!talking!about!her!“horrible”!introduction!to!the!savage!world!of! American!politics.!!
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In!2000,!McCain!was!a!15HyearHold!pupil!at!a!Catholic!school!in!Arizona.!A!nun!pulled!her!out!of!class! to!warn!her!of!an!incident!on!her!father’s!campaign!trail.!A!reporter!had!asked!John!McCain!what!he! would!do!if!Meghan!became!pregnant!and!didn’t!want!the!baby.! The!question!tripped!up!the!Arizona!senator,!who!was!then!fighting!George!W!Bush!for!the!Republican! nomination,!and!a!vicious!debate!about!Meghan’s!hypothetical!abortion!erupted.!By!the!time!McCain! conceded!a!few!weeks!later,!Meghan’s!name!was!almost!as!familiar!as!her!father’s.! Nearly!14!years!have!passed!and!the!experience! still!rankles.!Yet!her!response!was!to!step! straight!into!the!harsh!spotlight!of!American! media!and!politics.!After!graduating!from! Columbia!University!in!2007!with!a!degree!in! art!history,!McCain!blogged,!tweeted,! photographed,!wrote!and!broadcast!her! politically!and!sexually!charged!coming!of!age,! sparking!controversy!after!controversy!along! the!way.!(Her!six!siblings,!meanwhile,!avoided! the!cameras.)! Now!29,!she!hosts!the!talk!show!Raising-McCain! for!cable!network!Pivot,!which!focuses!on!the! soHcalled!millennial!audience,!or!young!adults! in!the!18H33!age!group.!It!has!been!a!bumpy! ride,!she!concedes.!The!New!Yorker!described! McCain!as!a!“headache,!all!empty!goHgirl! aphorisms”.!She!says!she!cried!when!she!read!a!Salon!piece!calling!her!“the!worst!of!millennial! culture”,!someone!who!“knows!little!about!history!or!politics!–!but!keeps!getting!platforms!to!spout! her!ignorance”.!It!was,!she!says,!“maybe!the!meanest!thing!anyone’s!ever!written!about!me”.!
That!is!quite!a!statement,!for!McCain!is!political!dynamite!in!the!Republican!party.!She!is!a!vocal! supporter!of!gay!marriage!and!the!legalisation!of!marijuana,!and!takes!a!nuanced!stance!on!abortion! and!gun!control.!There!was!the!time!she!posted!a!selfie!on!Twitter,!showing!off!eyeHpopping!cleavage.! The!time!she!cancelled!a!book!tour!engagement!citing!“professional!responsibilities”!and!then!tweeted! about!partying!with!her!“favourite!crew!of!sinners”!in!Las!Vegas.!The!time!she!posed!(clothed)!in! Playboy,!telling!the!interviewer:!“I!love!sex,!and!I!love!men.”! Inevitably,!comparisons!are!made!with!Chelsea!Clinton,!the!polished!daughter!of!former!US!president! Bill!Clinton!and!former!US!secretary!of!state!Hillary.!Chelsea,!who!is!three!years!older!than!Meghan,! works!as!a!special!correspondent!for!NBC!News!and!her!family’s!foundation.!“Her!dad!was!actually! president,”!McCain!says.!“Chelsea!Clinton!is!so!sophisticated!and!put!together!and!pretty!much!the! polar!opposite!of!me.!I!have!tattoos.!I!get!drunk!and!tweet.”! Some!Republicans!demonise!McCain!as!a!scandalous!liability.!Yet!she!is!irresistible!to!some!sections!of! a!party!that!many!believe!has!lost!its!way,!especially!with!young!voters.!“I!always!think!of!myself!as!the! crazy!cousin!of!the!political!daughters,![the!one]!you!probably!want!to!have!a!drink!with!but!you! maybe!don’t!want!to!bring!to!the!serious!dinner.!I’m!certainly!comfortable!with!that,”!she!says.!! “I’ve!had!so!many!opportunities!to!lead!a!much!more!private!life!and!I’ve!definitely!considered!it,”!she! adds,!between!sips!of!Coke!and!bites!of!a!beetroot!and!goat’s!cheese!salad.!“I!don’t!know.!It’s!really!fun.! The!good!far!outweighs!the!bad . . . I!have!such!a!good!time.!Most!of!the!time.”! McCain!speaks!in!hyperbole.!She!hates!“perfect!people”,!being!lectured!on!how!she!lives!her!life,!being! away!from!New!York,!online!dating!and!her!looming!30th!birthday.!She!loves!America,!her!life,!her! work,!living!in!New!York,!her!home!state!of!Arizona!and!talking!about!politics.!She!loves!travelling,! hiking!and!horse!riding.!She!loves!people!who!fight!with!her,!talking!about!politics!and!people!“who! don’t!give!a!f***”.!She!loves!taking!risks!and,!she!says,!doesn’t!believe!in!regrets!–!but!she!would!undo! the!Twitter!cleavage!photo!if!she!could.!Although,!she!adds,!“It’s!nothing!morally!compromising.!It’s! not!like!I!killed!a!man.”! She!spent!her!twenties!entrenched!in!the!battleground!of!American!politics,!joining!her!father!on!the! campaign!trail,!chronicling!her!behindHtheHscenes!view!on!her!blog!McCain!Blogette.!She!went!on!to! write!three!bestselling!yet!scathingly!reviewed!books!(Dirty-Sexy-Politics!and!America,-You-Sexy-Bitch! give!a!flavour!of!the!tone).!She!wrote!columns!for!The!Daily!Beast.!She!worked!as!a!political!analyst!at! the!liberalHleaning!MSNBC!cable!news!network.!It!was!there,!she!says,!that!she!had!a!“comeHtoHJesus”! moment!where!she!asked!herself!what!she!wanted!for!the!next!10!years!of!her!life.! She!has!concluded!that!the!divisiveness!of!Washington!politics!damages!ordinary!people,!not!just! politicians.!“Congress!is!a!bunch!of!children,!and!they!have!a!12!per!cent!approval!rating!for!a!reason,”! she!says.!And,!although!she!hopes!there!is!a!place!for!thinking!women!in!the!Republican!party!and!that! it!can!be!more!accepting!of!diversity,!she!warns!that!if!the!party!doesn’t!open!up,!it!will!die.!“There!are! some!people!in!this!country!that!just!can’t!handle!the!fact!that!the!face!of!America!is!changing,”!she! says.!“The!white!male!isn’t!the!only!figure!that!is!running!this!country!any!more.! “I!am!a!privileged!white!daughter!of!a!senator,!and!I’m!totally!crazy!and!racy!in!the!Republican!party.!If! I’m!rocking!your!world . . .”!she!trails!off.!“I!just!don’t!want!to!be!part!of!divisiveness!in!America.!I!don’t! think!it’s!my!role.”!
! ©Pivot!With!Wilson!Cruz,!national!spokesperson!for!Glaad,!the!gay!rights!advocacy!group! Today,!McCain!is!focused!on!presenting!the!television!programme!that!she!describes!as!“not!your! momma’s!talk!show”.!Inspired!by!the!MTV!News!she!watched!growing!up,!she!wants!it!to!be! “educational!but!still!fun”.!Her!mission,!she!says,!is!to!“dig!deep!into!the!issues!that!matter!most”!to!her! generation.!The!first!few!episodes!tackle!digital!privacy,!feminism,!dating!in!the!digital!age!and!what! happens!when!your!values!conflict!with!those!of!your!family.!The!22Hminute!episodes!follow!a! standard!storytelling!arc:!McCain!questions!a!concept!(“I!don’t!know!what!being!a!feminist!means!any! more . . . I!like!pushHup!bras,!and!sometimes!I!dress!slutty!on!Halloween”).!She!calls!in!the!experts!(a! former!porn!star,!a!former!Navy!Seal,!an!editor!with!Sheryl!Sandberg’s!Lean!In!group!and!a!New!York! City!politician).!She!makes!a!revelation!(she!identifies!herself!as!a!feminist!and!wishes!other!women! would!join!her).! Hillary!Clinton!has!twice!turned!down!a!request!to!appear!on!the!show,!McCain!says.!She!does!get!to! interview!her!father!–!a!prisoner!of!war!in!Vietnam!–!about!overcoming!adversity!and!dealing!with! criticism.!“I’d!like!to!think!that!I’m!the!type!of!person!that!can!just!let!it!roll!off!your!skin!but!I’m!not.! My!dad!isn’t!either,”!she!says.!“He!was!almost!president,!and!he!still!has!a!hard!time!with!criticism.”! Still!in!her!sights!for!an!interview!is!Lena!Dunham,!creator!of!the!hit!series!Girls.!But,!says!McCain,!“I! don’t!know!if!I’m!her!type!of!girl.!She!said!that!she!thinks!Republicans!are!like!Nazis.”! What!does!McCain!have!in!mind!for!the!next!decade?!“I!get!that![people]!want!to!sit!here!and!call!me! this!entitled!senator’s!daughter.!I!get!it,!but!I!work!my!ass!off.!I!work!harder!than!anybody!I!know,”!she! says.!“I’ve!been!given!more!opportunities!than!the!average!person!but!I’ve!also!taken!every! opportunity!that!I!have!ever!been!given,!period.! “I!want!to!make!an!impact!in!this!world,!and!it’s!like!they’re!mad!at!me!for!not!going!clubbing!and! shopping!all!day.”! She!wants!her!show!to!be!renewed!for!another!season,!and!she!wants!to!write!more.!And!as!much!as! she!says!she!is!disenchanted!with!the!Republican!party!and!American!politics,!she!dreams!of!running!a! political!campaign,!although!she!is!vague!about!for!whom.!“I!grew!up!on!campaigns,!and!I!love!them,”! she!says.!“It!feels!like!a!home.!It’s!like!the!womb.!I!love!it.!I!miss!it.”! ! ! ! ! !