Meghan McCain: Don't look at us like 'dirty moderates'

[SpartanDem]

(CNN) — Meghan McCain, daughter of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said the GOP is going to have to become more inclusive if it wants to rebuild.

“I just wish that moderates like myself — more moderate Republicans and more socially liberal Republicans — weren’t looked at as, ‘Get rid of the dirty moderates. Get rid of them,’” the 24-year-old told CNN affiliate KTAR radio in a joint interview with her father.

We need to be an inclusive party. We need to be an umbrella party. We need to inspire 20-somethings, which is something the Obama campaign did very well,” she said on the "Mac & Gaydos" show


http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/02/meghan-mccain-dont-look-at-us-like-dirty-moderates/

[Colobo]

1. I'm kinda tired of this woman already. She wants to become the moderate Sarah Palin

and it's not working. If she wanted true social progress, she would be a Democrat, not a Republican.

[Skittles]

2. yup

she's right, but still in the wrong party

[FrenchieCat]

5. She doesn't know economics. She's just a face for the GOP Youth.....

Trying to rally support, I guess.

I doubt she knows why she's a Republican, other than her parents are republicans. She hasn't yet figured out that political party membership is not inherited. :eyes:

[depakid]

6. On top of that, she's vapid

which I suppose has some appeal to the talk show circuit- but not exactly what one would want in any position requiring any degree of knowledge or critical thought.

[Reterr]

22. exactly.eom

[MADem]

7. No, she's the antithesis to Palin. She wants to flip the GOP, like LBJ did to the Dems.

People forget that it used to be "When you say racists, we says DEMS!! When you say PREJUDICED, we say DEMS!!! When you say segregation, we say DEMS!!!"

It's been so long that we've been the party of the working class, the Big Tent, the Rainbow, the Many Colors and Ethnicities, the party of INCLUSION... that many young people don't realize that the Democratic Party used to be the party of horrible racist crackers like Trent Lott, George Wallace, and Strom Thurmond. It's why MLK was a ... Republican.

Don't give this woman the dismissive wave-off. She's thoughtful, attractive, reasonable, and she's got MONEY. She will get older, and if she doesn't shut up, which it looks like she's not gonna do, she WILL be a voice. She's also appealing, and she has a kind aspect. Ignore her at your peril.

[Doremus]

11. MLK Jr. was NOT Republican.

His father, MLK Sr. was.

TALLAHASSEE - A black Republican group has put up billboards in Florida and South Carolina saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, a claim that black leaders say is ridiculous.

The National Black Republican Association has paid for billboards showing an image of the civil rights leader and the words "Martin Luther King Jr. was REPUBLICAN." Told about the billboards, the Rev. Joseph Lowery let out a soft chuckle that grew stronger as he began to think more about the idea. "These guys never give up, do they?" said Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with King. "Lord have mercy."

"That was not the Martin I know and I don't think they can substantiate that by any shape, form or fashion. It's purely propaganda and poppycock," Lowery said. "Even if he was, he would have nothing to do with what the Republican Party stands for today. Do they think Martin would support George W. Bush and the war in Iraq?"

http://crooksandliars.com/2008/07/06/martin-luther-king-jr-was-a-republican

[MADem]

17. Well, there are those who dispute your source.

And saying "can't substantiate" isn't the same as saying "Didn't happen."

This site says he registered GOP in 1956: http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.BlackGOP#martinlutherkingjr His niece insists he was, too--she's a member of the same outfit: http://www.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/000143/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter.pdf

Certainly, they have an agenda--I don't argue that point at all.

This article is less clear, and leaves the answer up in the air: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060928/ai_n16765510/

Here's what I think--"IF" (and I'm using the conditional, here) MLK Jr. registered to vote in 1956 at all, he no more registered as a Democrat than he registered as a Nazi. If he chose a party at all, he chose the GOP.

The Democrats in the south during that time were virulent racists. I do not suggest that MLK Jr. would have "approved" of the conduct of Republicans since the Nixonian southern strategy, but let's face facts and be quite honest--he wasn't in love with JFK, either--he was pissed because JFK kept putting him on the back burner because the time wasn't right (read: it would fuck up his reelection plans) for civil rights progress.

The irony was, it took a guy who placated the racists for years, LBJ, to finally tell those same bastards that the party was over.

The question isn't one of current philosophy, it's of which party was more consonant with his beliefs at the time. Back in those days, when segregation was the watchword of the Southern Democrats, he had nothing in common with that crowd whatsoever.

[democrat2thecore]

20. MLK always thought he had more to fear from the Dixiecrats than the GOP. -nt

[Doremus]

26. Seems like the people disputing my source are repukes with billboards.

Hmmm ...

Co-founder of the Southern Leadership Conference or repukes (of any color)?

I know who *I* believe.

[MADem]

32. And the man's niece, but never mind that.

I don't have "belief" on this issue. I have common sense. And like I said, he'd be as likely to register as a Nazi as he would to register as a Democrat if he did register at all in the 1950s. Our party had a very bad reputation in the south at that time. It's an ugly truth, and sweeping it under the rug doesn't change it.

It's obvious that the man never shared the goals of the GOP in its current form. But he sure as hell didn't share the goals of the Democrats back in the fifties, either.

I'm pleased that LBJ was able to flip us with his Great Society legislation. I'm also pleased, even though we had to spend a generation in the wilderness, that Nixon flipped his party, and all that racist stink we were owning got stuck on the GOP.

I'm not going to pretend that what happened didn't happen, though. You don't learn from history by ignoring it.

[shaggieshapiro]

9. yep

Amen and hallelujah

[Top Cat]

12. agreed

[Reterr]

21. me too.eom

[PM Martin]

3. Social moderate she is.

An economic right wing Miltonite and neoconservative draft dodger she is too.

[rainbow4321]

4. I don't put much stock into her faux feelings of being upset

Because a few months back, on her own blog, she admitted that she will vote for WHOever has the R next to their name in 2012. Saying that before even KNOWING who the candidate is, means that she is and always be a repuke sheeple...so if their candidate is a far, far right winger, she will be there backing them and voting for them.

[w4rma]

8. Her idea of 'moderate' is pro-Wall Street, anti-Main Street. (nt)

[opihimoimoi]

10. No matter the lipstick......

[AllentownJake]

13. I guess Megan is their attempt to reach out to the Hill's watching crowd

They can say what they want to say about our Hollywood support but at the end of the day the actors, actresses, singers and, songwriters that support us have a fucking talent.

Other than being the product of a Senator and a Beer Heiress what the hell does this woman add to Planet Earth.

[Reterr]

24. I guess Megan is their attempt to reach out to the Hill's watching crowd

bingo

[Joe the Liberal]

14. Just a another rich spoiled republican trying to dodge future taxes......

She want's to improve the parties image just enough so they can weasel their way back into the White House. Then once they're in they can begin screwing over this country all over again.

I wonder what is it exactly she loves about the republican party, perhaps it's the greed. She obviously can't think for herself, she's just a repuke because her parents are repukes. If McCain were a Democrat would she still be a republican? Would she still love that party as much as she claims too?

In the end she is a republican and they are very deceitful, nothing but forked tongued snakes in the grass. It's just like Reagan who was good at maintaining a certain image to get elected but behind the scenes he was screwing us all over.

[SoCalDem]

15. Mz. Meghan needs to STFU..

and concentrate on her own life for a while., Her Poppa ain't running for pres again, and she's protesting a whole lot more than she needs to..

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

16. GO SIT DOWN!!!!!!

[ruggerson]

18. Why does she piss you guys off so much?

I kind of get a kick out of her.

If she and other Repug moderates succeed in eventually pushing their party to the left, that's good for our whole country. It will mean a seismic shift leftward in the national dialogue.

Good for her. I hope she pulverizes the religious right.

[Jennicut]

23. I agree. There is nothing wrong with what she is saying. The GOP has lost moderates.

The Dems have stayed a big tent party but the Rethugs have become a minority, ultra right party. I think Meghan realizes that most moderates have simply moved to the Dems and without them the Rethug party has no future as a majority party. That being said, I hope no Rethugs listen to her.

[MADem]

33. I think it's fear, myself. A push leftward, as you note, means compettition for that end of the

debate platform.

Like it or not, she, and people like her, are the future of the GOP if they survive at all.

They can't keep going on with the Hate Hate Hate Schtick, no one's buying it. People have tired of it. Even the Jesus crowd is adopting more of a "Live like Jesus" attitude (help the poor and sick, feed the hungry, etc.) rather than "Thump the Bible-No, no, NO."

Her strategy (and the strategy of Steele, Jindal, et.al.) is to capture the CENTRIST AND MODERATE votes. The people who are for a cleaner environment, for a purer food and water supply, for a genuine "kinder, gentler" (not BS, the real deal) world. People who favor a more ISOLATIONIST--rather than Imperialist--attitude on the part of the USA. You see why some people on our team might be getting nervous about this new approach?

If you look at some corners of this forum, people who are moderates and Bubba-ish Third Way centrists are SCORNED. Insulted. Called DINOs and "GOP-lite." Those are the people that this new outreach will target. The Meghan Contingent won't be successful straight away, but if the Democratic Party gets too didactic, or power corrupts (as sometimes it will) then the risk is that the alternative might be a GOP that does start to resemble the Party of Lincoln once more. That makes some people both angry and fearful. Let's see if I catch a little attitude for these observations!

Being a bit angry, fearful and nervous is good, though. Keeps us on our game and keeps us avoiding the traps of hubris.

[polmaven]

34. Absolutely right!

Good grief....I think maybe it is time for some to listen for a change and stop the knee jerk reactions to any one and everyone not as far toi the left as they.

[phleshdef]

36. Not only that, she is only 24 years old and just starting to find herself poliltically.

If she were a Democrat, most here would be swooning over her. Some people around here need to get off their high horses and cut out the partisan driven hatred. Its fine for us to disagree on policies, but trashing some 20 something daughter of a Senator from the "other side" for trying to be a voice for a semi-sane point of view in regards to the state of her chosen party is a GOOD thing. We are still the United States of America, not the United States of Liberalia.

[TheMightyFavog]

37. IMHO, it will be people like her who will eventually being the ones to kick out the fundies.

Just like LBJ kicked out the segregationist fuckwits in our party back in the 60s.

[ZombieHorde]

19. How do 'dirty moderates' look at them? nt

[SKKY]

25. So, now we see how the GOP is trying to rebrand their image...

....and become "hip". Not too promising if you ask me.

[JI7]

27. How are they going to compete against Obama ?

even if the party became more accepting of moderates, they are still up against Obama. why would young people (and many others also) pick them over Obama ?

[JVS]

28. One of the things that I think is getting lost here is how moderates and the GOP parted.

A lot of people, even on this board, like to act like the conservative elements of the republican party just decided to give moderates the heave-ho. This is not really the case. In fact, one could argue that the nomination of McCain was a win for moderates in their party, although I personally see it more as a failure to choose a candidate in the 2008 primary and instead punting to the runner up from 2000.

I suggest that the exodus of moderates from the republican party is not actually a decision of some kind of hard core cadre within the party, but simply the result of the electorate's decisions in November. After possibly the worst presidential administration ever, many moderate voters simply did not trust them to be able to govern effectively. This resulted in a defeat of Republicans in all but the most batshit crazy conservative areas. Since the moderates traditionally do not represent such batshit crazy conservative areas (and rightfully so) they dealt with electorates who had swung against them. So the moderates got tossed on their asses, but by the voters, not by the party.

[Orsino]

29. Still a Republican, still evil.

She dines out on Cindy McCain's money.

[symbolman]

30. No matter WHAT they Say

in the end all they do is Rubber Stamp whatever Fascist program is slapped in front of them.

Period. They are Never to be Trusted. They adopt whatever will let them slime in the door, and the Crush us all while they wipe their golden asses with our Constitution.

They should all be tarred & feathered & and run out of the country on a Rail.

They lie for the opportunity to obstruct and do Damage, every last one of them.

They are Garbage.

Wonder which of Daddy's 15 houses she prefers to live in, while mine and many others were foreclosed?

Never teach a Pig to Sing, it wastes your time, and annoys the Pig :)

[polichick]

31. She STILL hasn't said what it is she "loves" about the Republican party...

I think she's full of shit ~ she doesn't even like the party of throwbacks.

[tanyev]

35. Keep banging your head against that wall, Meghan.

You're not going to change the mind of any fundies, but it's entertaining for us to watch.