McCain muses on politics

Eagle Reporter Marisa Kendall had the opportunity to sit down with Meghan McCain before her speech at the University Club Wednesday night. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

MARISA KENDALL: Why do you consider yourself a Republican who’s liberal on social issues? MEGHAN McCAIN: Wow, start off with that one, little lady [It was the first question of the interview]. Good Lord, yeah of course. I consider myself a Republican because of all the issues and conventional ideology and I just believe, you know, that my gay friends should be able to get married just like I can. I think the Republican Party has a long way to go when it comes to social issues, but when you go back to the ideals it was based on, social issues have nothing to do with it.

JORDAN COUGHENOUR / THE EAGLE

MK: MM:

MK: Do you think you could ever be that politician? MM: No no. No no. I’m sorry.

What do you say to the argument that the Republican party lost in 2008 because it strayed too far from its roots and that it needs to focus on conservative ideas in order to win again? MM: Well this is the $64,000 question, that everybody bets one way or the other, and obviously I bet literally my career on the opposite ... I’m betting on the fact that we need to be a more open party, and I know there are other people that bet we need to be a smaller one. I just think that, from a logical standpoint, if your party gets smaller, how can you expect to inspire more people?

MK: What do you hope to accomplish for the gay rights movements by speaking at AU tonight? MM: Well, you know, the gay community has been very accepting of me and embracing. And I have gay followers, which has been really amazing to be embraced as a straight woman and Republican. I just want to show that not all Republicans are against gay marriage. I say ‘gay marriage,’ I agree with marriage and not civil unions; I think they should be allowed to get married.

MK: Do you think it’s going to be strange for you to speak to a group of people, to get up and speak to them even though they’re almost the same age as you? MM: I feel old. I’m turning 25 in a month, and I’m going to Vegas because that’s how old I feel ... But it is a little weird, I’m going to make a few jokes in the beginning because it wasn’t that long ago that I was Facebook-ing and [ratemyprofessor.com-ing] that long ago, so it’s a little weird to be back. But I hope people will just relate to me more; I’m not that much older than the people in this room even though the person that just interviewed me [from ATV] was 18 [years-old] and I was like, “alright well that’s a little bit of an age gap, I’ve been drinking a lot longer than you.” I hope it’s comfortable for you guys. Is it weird to have a speaker that’s not you know in their 40s or whatever?