Ok, so let me preface this by saying I am not a Republican, neither in the more traditional small government sense nor in the current sense. I decided to read this book because Meghan McCain appeared on Rachel Maddow one night and my curiosity was piqued when I heard her say that she was in favor of gay marriage and the repeal of don't-ask-don't-tell.
The other reason would be that my family is pretty conservative and in the past few months we've clashed on many current issues. Although I know that in order to better understand where my family is coming from I'd need to read and/or watch more of a certain person who shall remain nameless...Let's call him George, for the sake of ease. I don't really like George at all, and have tried to watch George's show but find it makes me very mad.
So, I figured, here's a woman whose father was the man my parent's voted for in the election, she's conservative, though she may differ from them on a few issues, and I found that as I was listening to her talk on Maddow that she was fairly intelligent; so I though she'd be one I could read and maybe be able to better understand where my family is coming from.
Also, it's just really good to every once in a while read something from a point of view that is different than how you would normally think.
So, with all this running through my head, I downloaded Meghan McCain's memoir of the 2008 Presidential campaign onto my Nook and began to read.
In the very first chapter I learned something new about the Republican party. Now in my limited experience with politics, I always heard the Republicans have a very conservative Christian POV about things; specifically homosexuals, abortion and sex education. But, the more traditional, Ronald Reagan type Republican is quite different. Traditionally (and may I say the really true definition of) Republicans are for small government, meaning the less the government regulates and gets into our lives the more our lives can be lived with the freedom America stands for. This means that a tried and true Republican wouldn't try and regulate marriage, abortion rights, etc. because it would infringe upon the belief that government should stay out of your private life. This is the type of Republican Meghan McCain professes to be. Although I do not agree with small government in a general sense, it was nice to finally understand a very small glimpse of why someone might be a Republican because to be honest I couldn't get past all the hate mongering that's going on in the party.
The book has a nice flow to it and is a pretty easy read. Meghan is likeable enough, and you can even cringe and laugh with her as she makes one gaffe after another. My favorite story is when she and her mother went to have lunch with Laura Bush at the White House but it's too long to go into so you'll just have to either buy the book or get it from the Library.
Where it got annoying was the constant talk about how wonderful a man her father is and how he ran such a great campaign with little character assassination, and how he's just so wonderful, and how he's the greatest guy ever...on and on and on. I mean, I do get it; if my dad was running for President I'd gush too, but it was just a little too much. Especially since she talks about how the press was too liberal and too hard on her dad and how he ran such an upstanding campaign and never got into the mud...Yeah, I remember things VERY differently, but then again, John McCain isn't my dad; so I guess I can cut her a little slack.
The end of the book is the point of the book and that is that the Republican party needs to WAKE UP so that they aren't torn apart and crushed by an increasingly marginalizing message. She says, and I agree, that they are forcing moderates within the party to go elsewhere for leadership, relying on a small group of people that speak the loudest and have views that go beyond conservative, and way beyond true Republicanism. Though I'm not a Republican, I think the party does need to listen because what they are doing is damaging and will continue to be damaging to our country. This hate of others because they have a different opinion, different sexuality, different whatever is just awful and it's tearing apart our country. They can blame Democrats all they want, but they are the ones shouting the loudest. The new Republican party goes by names such as Tea Party, Libertarian, Constitutionalist, but they are all under and with the support of the Republican party. And they are causing division and hate. And I am constantly shocked that they profess to be for Liberty and what the founding fathers stood for, but their actions and message are so opposite of all that.
So, what did I think of the book? I liked it, though I don't agree with half of what she said. She's interesting and I'll be interested to see what she does in the coming years. And I hope the Republican party can someday hear her and others like her.
Next week I'll be reviewing "Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Talk about a change of gears, huh?
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