George Stephanopoulos Zeroes-In on Meghan McCain's Spat With Palins

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ABC's George Stephanopoulos interviewed media darling and nominal Republican Meghan McCain on Tuesday's Good Morning America and devoted the bulk of the segment to her love-hate relationship with Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol. Stephanopoulos devoted so much time to the Palin issue that McCain interjected, "For the record, my book is not just about Sarah and Bristol."

The anchor gushingly endorsed the McCain daughter's new book, "Dirty Sexy Politics," at the beginning of the interview, which aired 42 minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour: "It is savvy, it is saucy, and it's just what you'd expect from the first daughter of a presidential candidate ever fired by her father's campaign." He then labeled his guest a "fun writer" and first asked about her "firing," in which she actually sent away from the main stops of her father's presidential campaign and did a bus tour in the battleground state of Ohio.

After four questions on her "firing," Stephanopoulos raised the issue of Mrs. Palin with McCain. She put all of her answers in the context of herself and her experiences, while the ABC anchor pressed her on the former governor of Alaska, with two negative follow-up questions about Palin and two neutral:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Since the campaign, you had said you didn't want to talk about Sarah Palin. But you write about her quite a bit in the book. You say there were 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 believe- you talk about doubts you had 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. I mean, you saw the crowds double, and you saw a lot more women coming to rallies-

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you also write that she brought- quote, 'drama, stress, complications, panic, and loads of uncertainty.'

MCCAIN: (laughs) It's true. I mean, a lot of things happen, but I think that's how campaigns are in general, no matter who comes, and- you know, I respect her, as a feminist or Republican feminist, and going out there and working for women, especially Republican women. It's no secret that I'm more socially liberal than she is, but I'm here to say that two different kinds of Republican women can work together for the same cause.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you talked about this moment in the campaign where you're being interviewed, and you almost got tongue-tied when you were asked about Sarah Palin. You said you had doubts about her. What are the doubts?

MCCAIN: It was a reflection on me, because she was so celebrated in the Republican Party, and it's- again, no secret that I'm so unlike her, and I thought, how am I ever going to fit in? How am I ever going to do this? And it's still something that I struggle with today because people so see me as sort of this rebel and this new Republican, which I take pride in, but a lot of, sort of, older Republicans seem to have a problem placing me.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you say there's room in the party for both of you, but you want a Republican to win in 2012- you say that as well. Could she be your candidate?

MCCAIN: Anyone could be my candidate at this point. I really don't like these hypothetical questions, but I think that so many candidates are doing or- you know, people that could be running right now, are making very smart moves. I think Mitt Romney is doing a lot of smart things right now. I think it's going to be a very interesting election, no matter what happens (unintelligible)-

STEPHANOPOULOS: Would you vote for her?

MCCAIN: It depends [on] the situation. You know, I'd have to hear more on what happens in the primaries. As you're well aware, anything can happen in the primaries, and I would have to see.

It was when Stephanopoulos brought up McCain's spat with Bristol Palin over teen abstinence and teen pregnancy that the liberal Republican replied with her "my book is not just about Sarah and Bristol" line and added, "a lot of fun stories." The anchor replied, "I want to ask you about one of those stories in a second. But first, you say that at that point, the campaign seemed to be glamorizing teen pregnancy, that the campaign really wanted to suggest that a pro-life message was more important than the message of how to avoid teen pregnancy to begin with?"

McCain answered, in part, "I have a sister who is almost exactly- my little sister Bridget is almost exactly Bristol's age, and I just know that I want teens in this country to be aware of what can happen when you have sex. You can die from sex in this era, and not necessarily- I just think that the pro-abstinence complete campaign isn't necessarily the most effective one."

Stephanopoulos concluded the interview by asking his guest about another of her "fun stories" involving a visit to the White House where she was apparently "dis-invited" from a lunch at the White House with Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna. The anchor repeated his endorsement of McCain's book at the very end of the interview: "Meghan McCain, it is a terrific book, it's a fun book, it's a revealing book about life in politics as well."

ABC has promoted Ms. McCain's liberal flavor of Republicanism in the past with her appearance as a guest host on The View, where she slammed conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham, and profiled her support of same-sex "marriage" on World News.