Wednesday night I went to an event titled, “An Evening with Meghan McCain”. Who was the guest speaker you may ask? She was —————————————->

The night began with a video clip of Meghan McCain on the Stephen Colbert report. This was somewhat of a strange way to introduce her…as we saw the digital McCain first followed by the real thing. She took the podium and began speaking right right away, addressing the issue of civility within the Republican party. Much of what she said addressed her hope of progress for the party, noting that it should be more open-minded and accepting of the more moderate (or even liberal) Republicans. She described herself as being fairly socially liberal, and to my surprise, was very vocal about her pro gay marriage views. She is very pro-life, but she also asserted her belief in the laissez-faire Republican ideal, in which the government stays out of the everyday lives of its citizens. The biggest issues I had with her dealtwith her pro-Iraqi war stance, pro-life opinion and her opposition to a federal health care system. It seemed as though her comfortable lifestyle really influenced this, in that she has never known the working/middle class point of view.

Her speech itself was only about 20 minutes, but following this was a period of Q&A that continued for more than an hour. In the end I didn’t completely despise her, and was pleasantly surprised about her somewhat liberal views, including her pro gay-marriage stance. I do disagree with her concerning the role of the federal government. Her family’s well off, but for many Americans having federal assistance is almost a necessity to getting by day-to-day.