FURTHERMORE, as somebody who freakin' MAJORED in PoliSci and has wanted to be on Politically Incorrect since I was like, 13... yugh. Stop acting like those of us who were born during the Reagan administration are a bunch of numbnuts, Megan.
I don't know I think from this small clip she sounded silly and considering this was her first debate interaction on this type of show, I don't think she failed. I just don't believe she is fully schooled in the past of her party. Its all a part of learning and I think she was kidding with the girl comment because she wasn't able to think of something quickly.
I sort am discouraged by a bunch of people leaping to the idea that someone at 24, fairly new to the process, should be perfect in these situations. And I believe that her not knowing these things means she WILL study them, as opposed to say Sarah Palin, who is in fact in our gov't. I have seen much worse performances on this show by trained and experienced politicians, pundits and journalists. Meghan also twittered about the experience afterwards and seemed generally pleased, had not bad feelings and was excited about it. Give the chick a break.
@ArtfulSlinger: If she were appearing like this before presenting herself as the new face of the GOP, I might have more sympathy. But she is putting herself out there as someone to listen to about the GOP, so it follows that she might want to make sure she has something coherent to say before doing so. It also follows that she might want to try to anticipate the comebacks to her "Obama iz mean, beating up on Uncle Bush" statement before saying it in a roomful of liberals who know politics backwards and forwards. No one's saying she should be perfect. They're saying she should be competent, and she's not even close. I think she's an opportunist who saw a ripe time to score some points and open a niche for herself by coopting liberal criticisms of the GOP and peddling them to her own party. She's doing her purported cause no favors by showing up so ill-prepared.
@ArtfulSlinger: I'm not going to give her a break. She puts herself out there as a purported "new face" of the Republican party, trying to get people to think that the GOP is suddenly cool because she Twitters, and is trying to repackage tired-ass conservative tropes by kindasorta coopting progressive social values. Surprise surprise, somebody actually calls her on it, she freaks out and claims it's because she's blonde (?!). It appears that she thinks having the most superficial understanding of the political process entitles her to airtime, and that her "new ideas" don't withstand even the most glancing scrutiny. She seems to have absorbed the right-wing "don't pick on meeeeeee" tactics and frankly doesn't appear very bright (certainly not bright enough to understand the history of the very party she wants to revitalize".
Saying that she's 24 and "not ready" does a disservice to many of the politically active twentysomethings who, shockingly enough, are fairly well versed in political history and theory, and could probably hold their own on Real Time without resorting to dialing whine-one-one.
Has she ever actually watched Real Time? Because this was fairly mild for them. I guess McCain was too busy blogging about meeting cute guys on the campaign trail to notice Palin making these same mistakes. You read up and get some idea of what you're talking about *before* you book TV appearances where you're actually going to have to know stuff. And if you're representing a party, you damn well ought to know what they stand for. And if you fail, you don't blame it on being a girl. Come back when you're actually ready for prime time, little girl.
I'm so glad you posted this, I was going to send a tip about it to jezebel and forgot. You points are spot on. Those people weren't attacking her for her views, if anything it was for the most part an intelligent discussion. McCain ran into trouble once she played on her age. If you are going to put yourself up on a national stage where, fairly or not, you are going to be representing your party and your age group, you better be prepared for the hard questions.
There were honestly points in that interview where I thought she was going to cry. She came off as completely terrified, uninformed and at times rather vapid which are three things that I had never thought her to be. I don't know if she just let her nervousness get to her or what but it was a major fail on her part. There was a point in the interview (one of the points where I actually thought I could hear her voice breaking) where she said "I mean, I'm the only rep here trying to defend myself!" As if the people on that panel were ripping in to here like they were Bill O'Reilly- which the weren't. She can't be happy about how any of this went down.
@IamnotStarJones: I was actually instantly struck by how genuinely scared shitless she was as soon as she walked out there. Her fear was palpable- voice shaking, nervous laughter- and all I could think of was how NOT confrontational this show is. I mean it's smartass at times but people don't get thrown to the wolves on this show. And the panel here was freak'n Joel Stein and Katty Kay. The only person who said anything remotely confrontational to her was Begala and that was only b/c she struck first. Her uber-nervousness just seemed completely inappropriate. This isn't HardBall for crying out loud.
@librariesare4lovers: maybe she knew she wasn't ready for the show? or she didn't expect paul begala to treat her as the adult she says she is?
It's odd that she would appear on TV spouting such inanity and then get pissy when she's called on it. What world is she living in that she thinks this kind of behavior is okay?
>What world is she living in that she thinks this kind of behavior is okay?
Well, she *is* a Republican...
Honestly, she comes off as extremely unsophisticated and like she hasn't thought her positions through beyond "what will grab me some attention". Also, hate to say it, but the valley girl upspeak is a big turn off no matter how compelling your ideas and how bright you might be. Color me unimpressed.
Soooo... are history teachers only required to be versed in material from their birthyears on? And, I mean, I was born in 1982, but it was December 27, 1982, so I do I have to learn about things that happened Jan 1-Dec 26 of that year or can I just start from the last five days? Or better yet, can I just go ahead and fastforward to 1983?
I never bought into the Megan McCain cool machine and didn't understand why she was getting love here on Jez. If you're not bright enough to realize that the Republican party is not in your best interest, I don't care how many times you say you love sex and how much Ann Coulter hates you.
Also, notice her go-to attack when she gets told by Begala: "waaaaaa stop picking on meeeeee!" That's old-school Republican tactics - calling the debate a personal attack once the opposing side reveals that you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
@meritxell: I feel in some part she got the love here out of solidarity, because she was (very unjustly) bullied about her weight by some pundits and bloggers.
While it was total BS that she was body-snarked, I think there's a difference in recognizing that, and giving someone a pass on the rest of their behavior just because we've all been there and know how shitty it is or feels.
That she now falls back on the "poor blonde" trope kind of confirms my suspicion at the time that she was milking the comments on her weight for all they were worth, and in fact welcomed them in a perverse way because they got her attention and helped her play the victim card and more able to relate to young women, a large number of whom tend toward the liberal.
I don't feel sorry for her at all. Everything that comes out of her mouth, including all those Shockingly!Fresh!New! suggestions that the GOP hasn't heard 5 trillion times before, shows a complete ignorance of her own party's history & philosophy.
Like those who bumbled into traffic before her, she is basically RINO roadkill on the highway of politics.
Falling back on being blonde is a giant pet peeve of mine. I'm constantly surprised how many "serious" politicians, actresses, etc. are naturally blonde yet dye their hair because it gives people a different view of them. It's frustrating because I'm a natural blonde and I like my hair color, but I worry about being perceived as not capable in my chosen academic field because of my hair color.
So, yeah - thanks, McCain for contributing to this stereotype some more.
(I realize this has nothing to do with her lack of political knowledge, but I don't have the energy to tackle the big real issues with her - they're too taxing)
@electricbubbles: I'm naturally blonde too, and for a long time considered dying my hair brown because I thought I'd get more respect from people professionally. But then I realized that people were really just recognizing my lack of confidence, and it had nothing to do with my looks. When I started putting more effort into knowing what the hell I was talking about, THAT was when I got respect. (ahem, Ms. McCain...)
I don't think people necessarily dismiss women right off the bat if they are blonde, but if they show stupidity, then it certainly doesn't help the general impression.
@Schmalerie: Oh, also - I liked her comment implying that Begala was just beating up on her because she was blonde when there was ANOTHER BLONDE RIGHT THERE.
06/22/09
06/21/09
You don't go up against heavy hitters when you've only played whiffle ball. You will get hurt.
Sincerely,
Lucy
06/21/09
06/21/09
I sort am discouraged by a bunch of people leaping to the idea that someone at 24, fairly new to the process, should be perfect in these situations. And I believe that her not knowing these things means she WILL study them, as opposed to say Sarah Palin, who is in fact in our gov't. I have seen much worse performances on this show by trained and experienced politicians, pundits and journalists. Meghan also twittered about the experience afterwards and seemed generally pleased, had not bad feelings and was excited about it. Give the chick a break.
06/21/09
06/21/09
Saying that she's 24 and "not ready" does a disservice to many of the politically active twentysomethings who, shockingly enough, are fairly well versed in political history and theory, and could probably hold their own on Real Time without resorting to dialing whine-one-one.
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
It's odd that she would appear on TV spouting such inanity and then get pissy when she's called on it. What world is she living in that she thinks this kind of behavior is okay?
06/21/09
>What world is she living in that she thinks this kind of behavior is okay?
Well, she *is* a Republican...
Honestly, she comes off as extremely unsophisticated and like she hasn't thought her positions through beyond "what will grab me some attention". Also, hate to say it, but the valley girl upspeak is a big turn off no matter how compelling your ideas and how bright you might be. Color me unimpressed.
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09
Also, notice her go-to attack when she gets told by Begala: "waaaaaa stop picking on meeeeee!" That's old-school Republican tactics - calling the debate a personal attack once the opposing side reveals that you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
06/21/09
While it was total BS that she was body-snarked, I think there's a difference in recognizing that, and giving someone a pass on the rest of their behavior just because we've all been there and know how shitty it is or feels.
That she now falls back on the "poor blonde" trope kind of confirms my suspicion at the time that she was milking the comments on her weight for all they were worth, and in fact welcomed them in a perverse way because they got her attention and helped her play the victim card and more able to relate to young women, a large number of whom tend toward the liberal.
06/21/09
Like those who bumbled into traffic before her, she is basically RINO roadkill on the highway of politics.
06/21/09
So, yeah - thanks, McCain for contributing to this stereotype some more.
(I realize this has nothing to do with her lack of political knowledge, but I don't have the energy to tackle the big real issues with her - they're too taxing)
06/21/09
I don't think people necessarily dismiss women right off the bat if they are blonde, but if they show stupidity, then it certainly doesn't help the general impression.
06/21/09
06/21/09
06/21/09