Meghan McCain and the Homosexual Activists
Update: PFAW's Right Wing Watch blog has more on this including back story on Peter LaBarbera, who apparently has a vendetta against the Log Cabin Republicans.
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I know, my blog title sounds like a really bad (as in not good and also offensive) Christian Rock band. Unfortunately, it is also the dead serious subject of an article that hit my inbox via a Google Alert.
Two individuals who were intimately involved with John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign will be addressing an April gathering of homosexual activists in Washington, DC.
Meghan McCain, the 24-year-old daughter of former Republican presidential nominee John McCain, will be among the featured speakers at the annual convention of the Log Cabin Republicans, a homosexual activist group. The title of Meghan McCain's speech is "Winning the Next Generation -- How can the Republican Party attract more young voters."
Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says McCain is taking the wrong message to young voters.
"I'm afraid that some Republicans are going to think, 'Hey, we have to go pro-gay and try to be hip to get the youth vote,'" suggests LaBarbera. "Look, the kind of youth who are going to be the long-term heroes in the Republican Party are going to be the principled youth of today -- and the principled youth don't want us to play around or go half-way on homosexuality, or just fight gay marriage and not anything else."
Actually, articles like this - and the people who believe in them and are active in GOP politics - are the reason that the Republican party is going to continue to struggle with young voters. We've beaten up on Meghan McCain pretty hard here these last few days for her somewhat shallow diagnosis of how Republicans missed the youth train, but kudos to her for delivering this speech and for at least broaching the subject within GOP politics. She's going to have a long, hard slog fighting against dead-enders like the guy who wrote this article.
2008 Youth Vote in Context
The following charts and graphs are meant to contextualize the unique role that young voters played in the 2008 election, and their increasingly important role in a winning electoral coalition:
2008 Youth Electoral Map

2004 Youth Electoral Map

Youth Vote Partisan Advantage: 2000 - 2008

Youth Vote Historical Support: 1976 - 2008

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