Meghan McCain's Chronic Overshares: Savvy Or Silly?

As we know, potential First Lady Cindy McCain is almost entirely uncomfortable on the campaign trail — she perpetually looks pained, as if she has a deeply embedded splinter in her heel. Her daughter Meghan, however, has none of the iciness that Cindy projects. Slate describes Meghan's media persona as "composed, warm, and flawlessly made-up." According to writer Noreen Malone, "If some of the snippets [of Meghan's interviews] seem to signal ditz, the big picture is a smartly composed one." Meghan will flirt with GQ interviewers and admit to her weight struggles on her cutely named "Blogette" while simultaneously penning children's books and uploading touching YouTube videos of amputee veterans.

Speaking of YouTube, Meghan has been able to utilize new media, something her old-as-dirt daddy has pretty much avoided. Slate's Malone notes that after a gaffe on the Today Show, (Meghan said "No one knows what war is like other than my family. Period.") Meghan went straight to her blog to qualify her words.

Meghan has obviously hit a nerve with more than a few women, and Malone parses Meghan's appeal quite accurately. Where I disagree with Malone is in her description of the "mini-generation gap" between 28-year-old Chelsea Clinton and 23-year-old Meghan. "At Stanford, Chelsea was largely able to escape from the press. Most of Meghan's time at Columbia took place in the Facebook era, when politician's children's pages were suddenly fair game. Seriousness was rewarded for Chelsea and her cohort," Malone writes. "But it's been attention-grabbing that has thus far been rewarded for younger women like Meghan—and me—who've grown up in a post-YouTube, post-Britney era. We've been shown that it pays to behave like permanent teenagers, and Meghan has slickly figured out a way to get the most out of this."

Indeed, by talking to the press, Meghan has received far more attention than the notoriously guarded Chelsea. But I'd argue that the difference between Meghan and Chelsea is more personality based, and less micro generational. In addition, the sort of "attention grabbing" that is allegedly being rewarded for Britney and her discontents has almost entirely negative results. Yes, Britney made a lot of money and was splashed over many headlines, but she also went batshit insane. And yes, Meghan McCain's oversharing gets her attention and a certain amount of stars-are-just-like-us acknowledgment, but is that really going to translate into votes for her dad? I know many non-Democrat women, definitely of my mother's age, but also of my own age, who were appalled at the way Bristol Palin has been thrust into the campaign spotlight, and I'd imagine they'd be similarly appalled by the awkward lunches between Meghan McCain and Hills doyenne Heidi Montag. But maybe I'm wrong, and Meghan's "haute-trashy" look, saccharine blogette and downplayed Columbia degree are exactly what will get her father votes. If that's the case we might as well pack it in and revive our livejournals.

Blogette Girl [Slate]
McCain Blogette [Meghan McCain]

Earlier: Meghan McCain Will Not Date Journalists
New Yorker Profile Shows Cindy McCain Is A Nouveau Betty Draper

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