Meghan McCain Brings “Raising McCain” to TV
Meghan McCain is an author and television personality, and of course she’s the daughter of Senator John McCain. She’s written for The Daily Beast, and has appeared on MSNBC as a contributing commentator. Meghan’s also written two books– one a memoir of her time on the campaign trail with her father, and a second book with Michael Ian Black. And now she has her own show, on Pivot TV called “Raising McCain.” She recently stopped in to the SiriusXM studios to talk with Ron Bennington about her new show. Excerpts from the interview appear below, and you can hear the interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio.
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Ron Bennington: Last time you were here you were with Michael Ian Black, you guys wrote really a terrific book together of ideas going back and forth, this show seems like it picks up from where you were, there.
Meghan McCain: It does, and thank you for having me back, I remember we had so much fun when we came on last time. The show really is kind of like an extension of that. It’s a TV show that is about issues facing millennials which sounds very heady, but it’s issues like bullying, sex overload, feminism, and it’s filmed like a documentary. So we go on the road, much like I did with Michael Ian Black and talk to people, everyone from celebrities and news personalities to whomever will offer their opinion.
Ron Bennington: But you also go into these situations with a little bit of an open mind, where most TV now, the person is already locked in to their belief and either has somebody on to back up that belief or somebody on that they yell at…
Meghan McCain: Yeah, I hate that.
Ron Bennington: And you’re going in a different direction of let’s just talk. Let’s talk.
Meghan McCain: I don’t have it all figured out (laughing). I have actually very little figured out, in my own life, and I’m just trying to figure it all out and find the answers to issues. I was working in cable news last year for MSNBC and I just felt like I’m not the right person to be angry on TV. I’m not here to try and pit people against each other. I’m not here to add to the negativity that is going on in our culture, so prevalently, or to start dividing our country more and be part of the problem. So, with this show, I hope that I am part of the solution, but at the very least, it’s positive.
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Meghan McCain Talks About Keeping an Open Mind
Ron Bennington: I don’t think you’re allowed to leave anything open-ended on TV, and that’s a problem because most things are open-ended. They are not going to be figured out in a half hour.
Meghan McCain: I got slammed, actually, I was asked something about the economy during an interview with Rachel Maddow and I said, “I’m not the person to answer this, I’m not an economic expert,” I’m still not an economic expert, and quite frankly, why would you want my opinion on something that I am openly admitting that I don’t know about? And I was slammed. They were like, “She’s so stupid,” she’s whatever, and I was like, “No, I’m just not an economist.” So, I think we live in a time where people have to at least pretend that they know everything. Maybe there are people out there who know everything, but I don’t. (laughing) I really don’t know everything.
Ron Bennington: Because some of these things are more complicated than they let on. Look what’s happening with Obama right now with Syria, it’s a tough call. One of the few people backing him up seems to be your dad, but he wasn’t with him all the time. There are two guys we would not expect to be lining up against everyone else, because these things are more complicated than just throwing out one phrase that you use everyday.
Meghan McCain: I agree, and I think people are sort of pressured to act like they know everything or at least come up with an answer. At the very least, you’re supposed to defend your party line, no matter what, and I’ve never done that, and then you’re a ‘heretic,’ which, I am considered by many people in the Republican party.
Ron Bennington: And you are staying Republican, you said, no matter what happens you are sticking with that party.
Meghan McCain: If there is a cool Independent candidate or maybe a Libertarian candidate, even though Libertarianism seems a little extreme for me, I would be open to it. At the moment, I’m still a Republican, but the party is a mess. It’s a complete and total mess and we’re completely split, completely divided, and we’re just losing young people and minorities at a staggering rate. I don’t know where the party goes from here.
Ron Bennington: And you would love to see the party go after those exact people, the people that they are missing.
Meghan McCain: Yeah.
Ron Bennington: You would love for young people to come into that party and maybe give it a fresh perspective.
Meghan McCain: I would, but we haven’t given them a reason to. I think even if people don’t know that much about politics, if they see visually, they watch the Democratic Convention it looks like this rally with different ages and races and then you see the Republican Convention and it’s predominantly older, white males. Obviously, if you’re a young person, you’re like, “well, they’re the ones who look like they are having a good time.” I just think the whole thing that is going on with birth control and still the conversations about women’s reproductive rights is very dated and I think you’re just not going to reach out to young women when you want to have a say in whether or not they have access to birth control.
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Meghan McCain Talks About Feminism
Ron Bennington: You do a thing on feminism.
Meghan McCain: Which, I’ve already been slammed for, and the episode hasn’t even aired.
Ron Bennington: Now, why would you be slammed for it?
Meghan McCain: A little clip was put online by my network, Pivot, and there is a website called “Jezebel” that has already attacked me and my co-host and it’s only a minute and a half. I was just coming at feminism from a different perspective because I didn’t know if I could call myself a feminist, because I’m a Republican. I’m a woman who likes to dye my hair and wear makeup and wear slutty clothes on Halloween, so do I still get to be a feminist? And apparently, asking those questions is below feminism and people are already attacking it. But, I think it’s ironic because I talk about woman attacking woman and that’s exactly what is happening.
Ron Bennington: Well, that does happen quite a bit, doesn’t it? Which, is the strangest thing about feminism, because a lot of people who attacked the early feminists, gained a lot of great stuff because of some of those extreme people. But it would almost be the same way of, why wouldn’t you be a feminist if you’re a woman? What would keep you from being a feminist?
Meghan McCain: I don’t know, but Marissa Mayer, the amazing head CEO of Yahoo! doesn’t consider herself a feminist. I think it’s because the term has sort of been polluted and I think there are women out there who think they have ownership over the word “feminism” and women can’t consider themselves that. But, I’m a strong independent woman and I want to be treated the same way a man is in the workforce, so that makes me a feminist, but I don’t know, I also – we interview porn stars in the episode because I think sex comes into play a lot with my definition of what feminism means and I thought their take was really interesting as well.
Ron Bennington: What was their take?
Meghan McCain: We interviewed a woman called, “Sinnamon Love,” do you know her? She’s a pretty well-known porn star, and she considers herself a feminist because of what she’s doing. She understood what she was doing, she knows the consequences, and she knows what she is putting out there and she’s spoken at Cambridge and all of these places. And I don’t know, I just wanted a different perspective, different women talking about this.
Ron Bennington: See, I think it’s just that all you want is choice. That is the thing, you want the choice of whether you want to stay home and raise kids, because it’s a fantastic thing to have one of the parents at home. But, you also want the choice, if you want to go into the marketplace and being treated properly. So, I do think whether you like it or not, women today have to turn around and thank feminists even if they don’t agree with today’s feminists.
Meghan McCain: Oh yeah, and I am so grateful for so many things so many women have fought for. I just think that the term, right now is complicated. – Are you a Republican or a Democrat, I don’t even know?
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Meghan McCain Talks About Having A Famous Father
Ron Bennington: Has your father worried that he pulled all you guys into the spotlight over the years?
Meghan McCain: You know he kept us pretty much away from it for a long time.
Ron Bennington: Until you were grown-ups?
Meghan McCain: Yeah. The only time I really realized my dad was famous was when I was in high school and he first ran for President, because he was parodied on “Saturday Night Live”, and I thought, “Wow, he must be kind of famous if he’s being made fun of on Saturday Night Live.” But, my dad actually, didn’t want me to do anything in the media. He wanted to me to be like a Kindergarten teacher and have nine babies, at this point. Like, both my parents want grandkids. But, they are very proud, now. It took my dad a while, to come to the place that he’s at, right now, I have a premier party for my show tonight, and he’s coming. I don’t know, he’s amazingly supportive now, but I think he sees so much of himself in me.
Ron Bennington: But, he’s also happy enough to support the things that you do that he doesn’t agree with – opinions. Which, I think we’ve lost, so how do we get back to, just because someone disagrees with you, you can still be supportive? Do you know, do you ever talk to him about those type of things?
Meghan McCain: With gay marriage, especially, where it’s a complete divide between our two beliefs, and he was asked about it and said, “I respect that she represents a generation that I don’t, and that she comes from a different place.” Like, find anybody, any other Republican that is going to say that about their kid’s stance on gay marriage and I just thought it was such a respectful way to talk about our differences. I don’t know how people get back to it. As I’ve had time to reflect on my life, because of the show, I was raised in such an open home. My parents just wanted me to believe what I wanted to believe. I didn’t have anything shoved down my throat and I don’t know what the secret is, because there are so many people out there that get so angry when there are – I have a girlfriend who will not date Democrats, ever. Will not do it. And I was like, “What if the love of your life happened to have voted for Obama?” I’m even open to dating someone (laughing), you know what I mean? Like you don’t have a ton of excuses. So, I don’t know, I don’t know what the answer is.
Ron Bennington: The interesting thing is that when people think of family values, they think of some indoctrination into a certain church and a certain patriotism belief, but here’s your dad, who to me, great patriot. But, he left things open to you to pick and choose. That’s stunning when you really think about it, and I think more people should look at that.
Meghan McCain: Yeah, he did. I mean, he brought me on the road with him when I was really young, the first time he ran for President, and I was always around so many different types of people. I was with him for so long, and I’ve been to thousands of town halls, and when you hear so many people’s different perspectives and get exposed to so much, it’s hard for me to judge anyone. I know, I make mistakes all the time and I don’t have it all figured out, so it’s hard for me to judge other people who disagree with me, because a lot of times they are just coming from a different background and a different perspective. I’m just not big on hating and judging, I think it brings toxicity into your life. At least it does in mine.
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Meghan McCain Talks About PivotTV
Ron Bennington: Now, Pivot TV is a new thing, right?
Meghan McCain: It’s a brand new channel. People can go to Pivot.tv to check it out, but it’s also on iTunes for those of you that don’t have television.
Ron Bennington: So you can watch it both ways. And it’s @meghanmccain on Twitter. Thank you so much for coming by. And I’ll see you next time.
Meghan McCain: Thank you.
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Follow Meghan on Twitter @meghanmccain and get more info on her new show on Pivot.TV
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You can hear this interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio. Not yet a subscriber? Click here for a free trial subscription.
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You can learn more about Ron Bennington’s two interview shows, Unmasked and Ron Bennington Interviews at RonBenningtonInterviews.com.
