Meghan McCain: Politics Killed My Libido

Meghan McCain, blogger and daughter of former presidential candidate Senator John McCain (R-AZ), wrote in the Daily Beast online magazine that her dating life is “on life support” after her father’s failed campaign.

And she blames her dad.

“Of all the things people warned would happen post-election, no one ever said anything about how complicated dating would become. Especially if your dad loses the election,” McCain said. “I have become something I used to despise: people who let politics dictate his or her attraction to someone.”

To illustrate her frustration, Miss McCain explained a troubling recent interaction with a potential suitor.

“One extreme fan of my mother’s recently told me I could be ‘his Cindy,’” she writes. “And then asked me if I ever wore pearls because they probably would look as good on me as they do on my mother.”

McCain thwarted the poor guy’s dreams: “Any guy that has a fetish for older women in pantsuits and large pearls obviously only finds my last name attractive about me.”

McCain previously showed off her no-nonsense, pop-culture-laden style on her blog, McCainblogette.com, where she documented traveling and campaigning for her father during the 2008 presidential campaign. She became a media fixture, speaking on behalf of her father in order to attract young voters.

The once potential First Daughter wrote she can usually tell within the first 30 seconds if a man is only interested in her because of the prospect of meeting her father. In the past, she said, she has been able to keep politics from hindering her relationships, and assumed that would continue after the campaign.

She also said she did not try to influence her Columbia University friends’ political persuasions last year – but “when it comes to dating, it's become an entirely different subject,” she said.

“I know that no one can really explain sexual attraction and why you are drawn to someone or not—but at this point in time, nothing kills my libido quite like discussing politics,” McCain wrote.

“Here's the biggest surprise: I am not only turned off by people who voted for Barack Obama, but I am also turned off by people that voted for my dad—or more so, obsessive supporters of my dad,” she continued. “Recently, over dinner, a guy started explaining his reasons for supporting President Obama during the election (I didn’t ask, I think the poor guy felt guilty) and I immediately found any attraction I had previously had dissipate. But same thing happens if a guy starts talking about all the reasons why my father should be president.”

“I have the ultimate Catch-22 in post-election dating,” she lamented.

The litmus test for potential dates, Meghan explained, is pretty straightforward: “When I find my father’s face staring back at me on a potential date's Facebook page I am equally put off. I don’t want to see my father’s picture near any picture of a guy I am attracted to, especially if we haven’t even had dinner yet.”

In closing, she sent a sarcastic message to protective fathers and frustrated daughters: “To all the fathers out there: If you want your daughters to be single in her 20s, I can say this—run for president.”