Meghan McCain: Republicans "Scared Sh**less"

Meghan McCain addressed the Log Cabin Republicans Saturday night at Washington, D.C.'s Westin Hotel during their annual convention, telling the gay group she has "lots and lots of gay friends" and that old-guard Republicans are "scared sh**less" of the future.

The speech had the rebellious strain that one might expect from the 24-year-old daughter of Sen. John McCain, though Ms. McCain did not explicitly reiterate the support for same-sex marriage that she had endorsed in an earlier blog post on The Daily Beast website. But the event was notable by virtue of the fact that she was the second high-profile Republican to speak at Log Cabin over the weekend -- McCain's chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt delivered a 20-minute speech Friday in which he laid out an intellectual and moral rationale for supporting full marriage equality.

McCain: "The person who stands before you is not confined within the mold of what a daughter of a Republican Presidential candidate 'should' be for some. And that’s OK. Our world is not confined by molds and neither should our nation....People in our country have much more important issues to deal with on a daily basis. But the experience did reinforce what I learned on the campaign trail in some major ways. I’ll summarize them in three points: 1. Most of our nation wants our nation to succeed. 2. Most people are ready to move on to the future, not live in the past. 3. Most of the old school Republicans are scared shitless of that future."

McCain added: "I am concerned about the environment. I love to wear black. I think government is best when it stays out of people’s lives and business as much as possible. I love punk rock. I believe in a strong national defense. I have a tattoo. I believe government should always be efficient and accountable. I have lots of gay friends. And yes, I am a Republican."