Meghan McCain opens up about campaign, Palins

In an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), dished about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, her father's running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign.


The younger McCain referred to Palin as "a Republican feminist," but wouldn't say whether she would vote for Palin if the she runs in 2012.

The insights come as the 25-year-old political daughter releases her new book "Dirty Sexy Politics," which offers a unique glimpse into life on the campaign trail as well as her take on the political trajectory of the Republican party.


Here's an excerpt of the one-on-one that went down between McCain, a Daily Beast columnist, and GMA host George Stephanopoulos:

Stephanopoulos: You write about her quite a bit in the book, you say there are a lot of things you like about Sarah Palin, but you also point out that she snubbed your mom's efforts to reach out to the Palins, that she wasn't much of a team player. You talk about doubts at the end, where you thought she actually hurt the campaign.


McCain: Yes, but I do clearly state at the end that we did not lose because of her. And, I'm speaking out now because I do have conflicting feelings about her. I mean, she brought so much momentum and enthusiasm to the campaign.

In her newly-unveiled book, McCain writes about the darker side of Palin's presence on the 2008 campaign. When Stephanopoulos asked about an excerpt highlighting the "drama, stress, complications, panic and loads of uncertainty" the Alaska governor brought to the political operation, McCain responded: "It's true, I mean a lot of things happened, but I think that's how campaigns are in general, no matter who comes."



Associated Press Writer= PHOENIX (AP) — John McCain's daughter says in a new book released Tuesday that Sarah Palin brought drama, stress and uncertainty to her father's failed bid for the presidency in 2008, but she doesn't blame the vice presidential nominee for losing the race.

In "Dirty Sexy Politics," Meghan McCain portrays conflicted feelings about her father's surprise choice for a running mate. She reveals that she called Palin "the Time Bomb."

"I was waiting for her to explode," McCain wrote. "There was a fine line between genius and insanity, they say, and choosing her as the running mate was starting to seem like the definition of that line."

But McCain also praises the Palins as "nice and down-to-Earth" and says she was impressed with Palin's ability to captivate and inspire women.

In the end, she writes, her father lost because "Obama was unbeatable" — the electorate and the news media were too enamored with a fresh new face who represented a monumental change from then-President George W. Bush.

McCain, 25, lives in Phoenix and is the oldest of John and Cindy McCain's four adult children. John McCain also has three children from his first marriage.

In her book, released by Hyperion, Meghan McCain shows an itch to adopt her father's persona as a "maverick" delivering "straight talk."

She calls religious conservatives the "intolerant far right," evoking her father's famous remark a decade ago that GOP religious leaders were "agents of intolerance." The elder McCain has since backed off from those statements.

Meghan McCain chronicles her struggle to fit in with the Republican Party, and she challenges the party to focus on promoting individual liberties while being more inclusive.

"Being Republican is not a lifestyle choice," she writes. "And it doesn't mean you can't be young, or gay, or black, or anything else."





John McCain said he was proud of his daughter and enjoyed the book.
"Reality is that we don't agree on every issue, but that makes it even more interesting conversation around the dinner table," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.