LA!Times! http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/laHetHstHconversationHmehanHmccainH raisingHmccainH20130915,0,1549898.story#axzz2qEXAvWVn! !
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! By!Irene!Lacher! 9:00!AM!PDT,!September!14,!2013! !
! Meghan!McCain,!the!outspoken!daughter!of!Sen.!John!McCain,!stars!in!"Raising!McCain,"!billed!as!a!new! "docuHtalk"!series!on!Participant!Media's!new!TV!network,!Pivot.!Cameras!follow!the!28HyearHold! pundit!on!interviews!exploring!a!variety!of!issues!of!concern!to!the!soHcalled!millennial!generation.! How'did'your'show'come'about?! I!met!with!my!production!company,!Go!Go!Luckey,!and!we!had!this!idea!to!do!a!talk!show!—!style! show,!but!more!filmed!like!a!documentary!or!a!reality!show,!just!because!I!personally!don't!watch! daytime!talkHshow!television,!and!I!don't!think!the!average!teenager!or!twentysomething!does!either.! We!met!with!a!bunch!of!different!networks,!and!in!my!final!meeting!with!Pivot,!I!met!the!president,! Evan!Shapiro,!and!he!just!totally!blew!me!away.! What'is'your'generation'looking'for?! When!I!was!growing!up!—!I!grew!up!in!the!'90s!—!MTV!News!was!a!really!integral!part!of!my!life!and! my!education.!They!were!showing!me!news!from!a!young!person's!perspective,!and!they!had! correspondents!that!looked!like!people!I'd!want!to!hang!out!with!or!did!hang!out!with,!and!that!just! doesn't!exist!anymore.!MTV!has!elected!to!use!the!lowest!common!denominator!entertainment.!Young! people!can!be!entertained!and!educated!at!the!same!time.!The!idea!that!young!people!don't!want!that! is!a!misnomer,!because!I!think!young!people!don't!have!the!option!right!now.! Do'you'think'your'generation'is'being'misperceived'as'being'just'into'fluff?! I!have!a!great!respect!for!popular!culture.!I!just!think!there!can!be!news!and!entertainment!that!has!a! message!for!social!action.!We!are!the!most!involved!and!connected!generation!in!the!history!of!history.! I!hate!the!idea!that!people!perceive!us!as!this!"me,!me,!me"!generation!that!only!cares!about!ourselves.! You'start'your'first'episode'by'saying'that'there's'no'more'privacy'and'that'you'don't'care,'and' your'views'evolve,'but'even'at'the'outset,'you'd'already'taken'a'lot'of'grief'online'about'your' weight'and'being'called'"an'idiot."'Are'you'OK'with'that?! I!think!that!if!you!elect!to!have!a!job!in!the!media,!you're!electing!to!invite!criticism,!and!I!don't!have!a! problem!with!constructive!criticism!or!with!people!disagreeing!with!me.!What!scares!me!is!that! inevitably,!when!this!show!comes!out,!there!will!be!some!commentator!someplace!that!will!say!I'm!a! fat!whore.!That!is!what!comes!with!the!territory!when!you're!a!woman!in!this!culture!in!the!media.!I! can!take!it!—!I!have!a!great!network!supporting!me!—!but!the!average!woman!isn't!going!to!want!to! do!anything!in!politics!and!media!if!every!single!day!of!their!life,!they're!going!to!be!called!a!fat!whore.! A!great!example:!I!did!an!interview!with!BuzzFeed!and!said!the!best!thing!about!working!at!Pivot!is!I! never!have!to!wear!Spanx!and!high!heels!again.!People!were!tweeting!me:!"You!have!to!wear!Spanx!at! 28?!Why!don't!you!try!eating!less?"!It's!hurtful.!But!I'd!rather!be!in!the!kitchen!and!take!the!heat!than! not!be!cooking!at!all.! So'what'else'is'coming'up'this'season?! In!the!final!episode,!I!get!to!go!home!and!interview!both!my!parents.!I!got!to!ask!my!dad!all!the! questions!I!was!scared!to!ask!him!in!the!past,!even!things!about!my!parents'!marriage.!This!is!a!video!I! want!to!show!my!grandchildren.!There's!an!episode!about!the!sex!overload!of!technology!killing! romance,!and!that!one!is!really!funny!and!a!little!depressing.!We're!working!on!bullying,!we!did!one!on! our!binge!culture.!Every!single!episode!somehow!draws!from!my!life.!We!did!an!episode!on!millennial!
veterans!that!my!little!brother![Jimmy,!a!vet]!coHhosts,!and!we!interview!a!bunch!of!our!friends!about! coming!back!from!war.! Of'course,'your'dad'has'had'his'issues'with'the'media.'What'prompted'you'to'join'it?! I!worked!on!my!dad's!campaign!after!college!because!I!didn't!want!to!get!a!real!job!and!I!didn't!want!to! go!to!grad!school.!I!learned!a!lot!about!the!media!and!I!started!really!loving!it!and!realizing!things! Republicans!could!be!doing!to!reach!out!to!a!different!kind!of!audience.! Speaking'of'the'election,'you've'written'that'you'nearly'overdosed'on'Xanax'on'election'day' 2008.'What'happened?! The!day!before!election!day,!someone!had!given!a!friend!an!envelope!of!Xanax!that!was!for!emergency! use!only,!and!I!was!having!a!total!panic!attack.!I!was!really!on!bad!terms!with!a!lot!of!my!dad's!staff!and! advisers.!I!was!sort!of!the!rebel!wild!child,!and!they!thought!of!me!as!a!loose!cannon.!She!was! supposed!to!give!me!one!Xanax,!but!none!of!us!had!ever!taken!prescription!medication!before,!and!she! gave!me!the!equivalent!of!four!or!five.!I!was!completely!passed!out!for!24!hours.! I'know'you'want'to'change'the'Republican'Party.'In'one'of'your'episodes,'you'said'you'feel'like' you're'failing.'What's'your'thinking'about'that?! I'm!not!right!about!everything,!but!I!do!think!I!am!right!about!the!fact!that!we!are!not!reaching!out!to! young!people,!we're!not!reaching!out!to!women,!we're!not!reaching!out!to!minorities!in!the!way!that! we!should!be.!We!can't!keep!asking!voters!to!decide!between!their!finances!and!wanting!their!gay! friends!to!have!the!same!rights!their!straight!friends!do.!I!just!got!to!the!point!where!I!was!sick!of!being! called!a!fake!Republican!and!an!idiot,!because!we're!going!to!continue!losing!elections.!I!don't!know! what!happens!when!we!just!bloodHlet!every!single!person!out!of!the!party!that!isn't!a!radical! conservative.! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !