The XX Factor: What women really think.

Poor Meghan?

Awhile back I wrote that Meghan McCain had learned to negotiate the difficult terrain of being a political daughter by oversharing on surface-level stuff, and keeping quiet on the truly personal. Looks like she hasn't quite stuck to that-on Hannity and Colmes, she revealed a bit more about the grudges she holds as a political daughter. She's mad about the Atlantic cover controversy, saying"I have a problem when it gets dirty and you're doctoring photos."  Most  striking is what she said about her support for Kerry and Gore, framing it as more of a vote against Bush, who ran a nasty smear campaign against her dad in the South Carolina primaries,  than for the Democrats:

MCCAIN: I can be behind my father all day every day.

COLMES: Sure.

MCCAIN: . until the end of time. I just couldn't get behind President Bush. I just couldn't. It's personal.

COLMES: Yes. You couldn't get behind President Bush?

MCCAIN: It's personal. I was 19 at the time.

HANNITY: And it's a primary 2000.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: Hold on, let's.

MCCAIN: It had to do with my little sister, and like, you know, you were just saying that the wounds of a political child run really deep. And there are things that I don't know if I'll ever completely get over.

COLMES: Was it because of what happened in 2000 during the campaign?

MCCAIN: Yes.

COLMES: That you two -- what about your dad now? Is he -- looks like he may have.

MCCAIN: No. He's a great forgiver, move on-er. No. Yes.

Her decision to stump for her dad was obviously one made out of love and personal, rather than party, loyalty.  And now she's got to stand there and justify her dad's politically expedient apostasy by saying he's a "mover on-er," and she's got to somehow justify to herself that even though she's been deeply hurt by negative campaigning, it's ok that the McCain campaign isn't exactly taking the high road these days. When I wrote about her earlier,  I was impressed with the amount of agency I saw her taking-exploiting the publicity system lest it exploit you first isn't exactly a feminist battle cry, but at least it's not passive.  Now, all I can think when I read this is "Poor Meghan, she's trapped."  But am I getting played like a flute?  Now's probably not a bad time to be reminding people that the McCains have been on the receiving end of smears, and Meghan, at her own admission, didn't go in to this thing a political naïf.  This wasn't her first interview, and it wasn't the first time she's talked about the way the 2000 election affected her. Should I put back on my armor of cynicism?