Wrestling Megan McCain

This morning I find myself taking one side of a dueling columnist battle at Pajamas Media, with my article on Why Megan McCain is Right. This is poised against Kim Priestap’s piece on Why Megan McCain is Wrong.

On the surface it may seem difficult to defend the opinions of a 24 year old when it comes to an issue as weighty as the future of a major political party and the establishment of an ancient political ideology such as conservatism. There’s certainly an element of that attitude in play here, but I can take comfort in the fact that many of my critics at PJM were also cheering on a 14 year old kid at CPAC this year when he educated the world on precisely these subjects.

The young Ms. McCain actually has some qualified offerings for the GOP, should they care to listen, and I lay some of them out in the column. In particular, she speaks to this backlash among the rank and file who wish to continue to purge the RINOs out of the tent. Good luck with that. If that’s your motivation, then being a regional party is clearly not good enough for you and you want to lose the nation entirely.

Kim Priestap’s piece is an interesting read, but I fail to see the relevance of much of it. She takes Megan to task for metaphors such as candidates you can put on a t-shirt or her choice in comedians, and chastises her for failing to embrace both Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. If those are the qualifiers for Republican purity these days, we really have to start shopping for a third party.

One of the most notable hits, though, comes when she attempts to answer McCain’s comments on gays and their place in the GOP.

Though Ms. McCain’s efforts may be well meaning, she displays a weak grasp of the foundation and philosophy that is conservatism and the Republican Party. Perhaps she needs to reread a quote from one of her gay friends. His view embodies the conservative and, therefore, Republican philosophy well: “Where I stand politically doesn’t begin and end with my sexuality.” Conservatism, which must remain the core of the Republican Party, does not begin and end with anyone’s sexuality, race, creed, or religion. It is a philosophy that values an individual because of his unalienable rights.

That line – “I’m about more than just being gay” – is lifted straight from an episode of West Wing in their early years and is constantly quoted by doctrinaire Republicans as cover for their anti-gay platform. It’s disappointingly effective because a major part of it is true, while the entirely of the defense does nothing but deflect the key questions. Here’s how it usually plays out:

Gay Activist: “How can you be a member of a party that consistently works against your own culture?”

Gay Republican: “Because I believe in smaller government, lower taxes, personal responsibility and states’ rights. I take national defense and a global economy seriously. I may be a gay person, but that doesn’t define everything this peson is.”

It’s a hugely powerful argument, and I hear it regularly. But I would offer that the GOP use of this defense can be translated a different way.

“You believe in the same things we do. We’re all on the same team here in terms of what’s best for America. So what say you just forget that we’re trying to strip gays of their rights. We’re on the correct side on everything else.”

There’s nothing wrong with being a gay conservative Republican, as rare as that may sound to some of you. But there’s also nothing wrong with such a person continuing to criticize their own party on the issue of gay rights and trying to move them in a more progressive direction. And I think that’s exactly what Megan McCain is attempting.