by Rex Wockner
National News Briefs
Speaking to the gay Log Cabin Republicans' national convention April 18, Meghan McCain, John McCain's daughter, said "old-school Republicans are scared shitless" of the future.
"Too many Republicans want to cling to past successes," she said. "There are those who think we can win the White House and Congress back by being more conservative. Worse, there are those who think we can win by changing nothing at all about what our party has become. They just want to wait for the other side to be perceived as worse than us. I think we're seeing a war brewing in the Republican Party. But it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past."
"Most of our nation wants our nation to succeed," she continued. "Most people are ready to move on to the future, not live in the past. And most of the old-school Republicans are scared shitless of that future."
A few days earlier, writing at The Daily Beast, McCain came out in support of same-sex marriage.
"I believe that people who fall in love should have the option to get married," she wrote. "Lest we forget, our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, grants the same rights to everyone in this country – 'All men are created equal.' If you think certain rights should not apply to certain people, then you are saying those people are not equal. People may always have a difference of opinion on certain lifestyles, but championing a position that wants to treat people unequally isn't just un-Republican. At its fundamental core, it's un-American."
Also at the Log Cabin convention, John McCain's presidential campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, came out in support of same-sex marriage.
"There is a sound conservative argument to be made for same-sex marriage," Schmidt said. "Conservatives, more than liberals, insist that rights come with responsibilities. No other exercise of one's liberty comes with greater responsibilities than marriage."
"I'm confident American public opinion will continue to move on the question toward majority support, and sooner or later the Republican Party will catch up to it," he said.
In an interview with CNN at the convention, Schmidt said "one of the things that has definitely impacted my views on (gay) issues and an evolution of thought over time is having a gay sibling."
"As Americans get to know gay couples or have gay family members or work associates … they come to understand that these relationships are deep and worth being respected and being protected," he said.
