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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

I Heart Meghan McCain

Meghan McCain is on the Rachel Maddow show right now, and while at this moment I don’t know the specifics of her political views I like her already.  I think I have just seen in her the next face of the GOP, and it gives me Hope for a rational two-sided discourse in future American politics.  In fact, Meghan McCain just showed me more about the current GOP than I have gleaned from (far too many) hours of watching their antics in past weeks.

Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are not only not the future of the Republican Party, they  aren’t even the present.

Meet the Next GOP:

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I mean, yes, at this moment Rush is running the GOP and Ann Coulter has more power than the entire GOP Congressional Congress, but I’m starting to think that this is more the ranting of retired, declining, stubborn elders – folks who are just not going to change their opinions and won’t be around long enough to be worth arguing with – than it is the bellowing of robust folks who still have any real say in how things will work out.  Meghan, at 24, represents a critical demographic who will interestingly be in their early thirties the next time a Presidential election will matter and who will be the heart of the Republican party at that time.

In her Daily Beast article today – “My Beef With Ann Coulter” – Meghan has this to say:

Coulter could be the poster woman for the most extreme side of the Republican Party. And in some ways I could be the poster woman for the opposite. I consider myself a progressive Republican, but here is what I don’t get about Coulter: Is she for real or not? Are some of her statements just gimmicks to gain publicity for her books or does she actually believe the things she says? Does she really believe all Jewish people should be “perfected” and become Christians?

First: it is refreshing to hear that someone can use the phrase “progressive Republican” without sounding like an oxymoron (or simply a moron).  I have become so used to the idea of the GOP as specifically and unapologetically regressive that your comment causes just a little bit of whiplash, but in a good way.

Second: I think Ann Coulter actually is for real, and really means what she says.  Yes, for some reason she believes those things, but further and more irrationally believes that the way to win more than half of the vote in future elections is to make those sort of issues the central view of her party.

I hope viewers understand Ann Coulter is not the woman we Republicans need representing us right now. The GOP is at a crossroads. I love the Republican Party, but if it turns out I am somehow not conservative enough to please its leaders, it makes me wonder-am I then not worthy of even being a member?

I may be a few decades behind you, Meghan, but (while I’m not in love with any party) I’m right there with you.  Mine is not the only voice on this very Progressive blog which has in the past argued from a conservative perspective, and even voted on the Right-hand side of a ballot.  Like many others, however, it has become exceedingly clear to me that the GOP wants to have nothing to do with me – will in fact stand silently and stare until I find my way to the exit – and while not the quickest cookie I can eventually take a hint.  Like many others, my response has been and continues to be: “You can’t fire me.  I quit.”

I welcome you, Meghan, to the Progressive world.  Whether you align yourself with the right or left of center, the mantra of Progressivism as summed up right here in the Motley Moose – “Progress Through Politics” – is a common goal we can always work on together.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 35 Comments

35 comments

  2. John Allen

    pulling from the left side of the GOP. Andrew Sullivan has been there for quite awhile. There are many others, like Kathleen Parker and Ross Douthat. At the moment, the Right has no interest in what they are saying. We’ll see if someone like Crist or Pawlenty starts to gain ascendancy or whether it will be the Jindals and Palins that end up on top. If it is the latter, then the party will be out of power for a long time to come.

  3. spacemanspiff

    Just say it Meghan!

    Don’t fight it!

    Her blog was one of my guilty pleasures during the campaign season.

    ( yes, I went there)

    Ann Coulter is a joke and I’m very happy to see M.M take her down a notch.

  5. Neef

    is important. Eternal one-party rule isn’t good for the country. Ms McCain holds out hope that some sanity is returning to the GOP.

    Anyone know if Coulter has responded yet? Surely this puts even Anne in a bit of a bind.

  6. HappyinVT

    now that I’m done discussing her boobs.

    Let me first say that I haven’t read her blog, so if I’m wrong please feel free to correct me.  I watched her on Rachel last night and saw her standing behind her father during the GE, which is the sum total of what I know about her.  Her involvement in her dad’s campaign is one problem I have with her.  She was part of a campaign that was about as negative as we’ve seen in national politics.  She may be a deacon for progressive Republicans but I cannot overlook her tacit approval of the tactics her father’s campaign used.

    I’m also lacking proof of her “progressive Republican” cred.  Heck, I’m not sure what a progressive Republican is.  Rachel asked her if she agreed with the Republican Party’s positions on policy, and mentioned economics.  Meghan said she didn’t really know much about economics and preferred not to address the topic.  (Didn’t stop her from saying this morning on Fox that she opposed a second stimulus package.)  Rachel did not follow up on any other policies.  I can’t heart her, yet.

  7. creamer

     And I’m sure she is a nice person, but does she have anything of substance to say about the problems facing our country?

    She needs to explain what “progressive republican” means. If it’s just more of the same with a pretty face and softer tone I think I’ll pass.

  8. Hollede

    I was reasonably impressed. I know that there are a lot of Republicans like her, although lately I think many of them have been open (or closeted) Obamacans.

    Perhaps someday we will see a return of moderate Republicans. For now I am screaming with laughter as the bushie and neo-con apologists, wing nut fundamentalists, and blowhard monsters; show themselves for the cancer they have been on the party. Will the patient survive? We shall see.

    In some ways it reminds me of what happened to the Democrats in the late 70’s, all of the 80’s, most of the 90’s and…uh, wait, this is getting depressing. I really hope that we do not repeat the mistakes that put us in the desert way back when. And I really hope that we will avoid the mistakes of the above mentioned festering wounds.

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