By Garth Bardsley
Meghan McCain has always been one to speak her mind. While her dad was running for president, the 24-year-old daughter of Senator John McCain kept her own blog, McCainblogette.com, complete with personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes photos.
On the day before her dad's major comeback victory in the New Hampshire primary, she told MTV News that she thinks Obama is "cute." She even told a GQ reporter about her affection for Marilyn Manson's ex-wife, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, and how a guy once dumped her when he found out who her father was.
But in an interview Tuesday morning on the Monday Morning Clacker, a blog written by a friend of hers, she refused to take the bait on her dad's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin.
"Sarah Palin is the only part of the campaign that I won't comment on publicly," Meghan says.
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By Matt Harper
As I write this, rain is pouring down on Western New Hampshire. But this torrential downpour held off for a few hours this afternoon so that a historic union could take place in the sleepy town of Unity, New Hampshire. Of course, I'm talking about of the joint appearance of Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator/presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The two Democratic candidates ran a primary battle for close to a year and half, and with Obama recently stepping up as the presumptive Democratic nominee, there's been a fair amount of speculation as to when and how the Democratic party would unify.
Well, the answer is here: June 27, 2008, in Unity, New Hampshire. You couldn't really ask for a more blatantly symbolic spot for Hillary and Barack to take the stage together. Apart from its name, the minuscule town near the Vermont border was the place where both Democratic candidates received 107 votes apiece during the state primary in January.
As expected, the event was heavily attended and obsessively orchestrated by an army of college-age Obama volunteers. While I waited in the approximately half-mile-long line to get into the event, I was offered fresh-picked strawberries by a lady moving up and down the line, was warned by another lady that Barack was a Muslim and should be avoided at all costs, and had about 10 separate petitioners warn me that MoveOn.org is funded by George Soros, who had apparently made millions from investments in Halliburton. I could tell right away that this event had brought out a diverse crop of passionate New Englanders. Read more...
"Are my MTV boys still with me?" Senator Hillary Clinton asked as she exited the auditorium where, moments earlier, she'd delivered one of the finest speeches of her career after winning the New Hampshire primary. And yes, we were!
Just before, as Hillary made the rounds, warmly thanking her supporters, I thought it would be a good time to say thank you to her daughter, Chelsea, for making our exclusive interview with her mother happen earlier in the day. Chelsea, who has rarely been more than a few steps away from her mother over recent weeks on this campaign, was doing what I had seen her doing earlier — making friends, taking photos, shaking hands and, most importantly, talking to young people, who had turned up to see her mother win the primary. Now, after what Chelsea had done for us, I must admit I felt a little cheeky asking if her mom would like to talk to us again. But I figured there was no harm in asking — and again, the lovely Chelsea came through, for which we are very grateful.
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It's a beautiful day here in New Hampshire. It's slightly warmer than yesterday, and the sun is out in the snow-covered state capital of Concord, where about a hundred people gathered to see Senator Hillary Clinton make an appearance at the local polling station, her last event before tonight.
The objective was clear: get an interview with potentially the next president of the United States. Easier said than done. With a mixed crowd of young and old calmly lining the road in anticipation of meeting her, it was the press who were behaving badly, pushing and shoving each other to get the perfect shot and perfect position.
At one point, everyone seemed happy with their position, but when the huge Clinton convoy (two buses and three SUVs) rolled through and the senator got out followed closely by her daughter, Chelsea, an organizer decided it was a good idea to ask the press to "take 15 steps forward." In press-talk this translates to: "Scramble to the front, show no mercy, and it's every news organization for itself." A local reporter who was standing next to me — an average-looking woman wearing a bucket-load of makeup — suddenly turned into a banshee, yelling at her cameraman while elbowing me and pushing my cameraman Aaron out of the way. It's all good, though. This isn't the first sticky situation Aaron and I have been in. Seeing that everyone was rushing blindly forward, we hung back for a second, quietly walked around the mob and sidestepped to the front. Perfect.
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