Patrick: Week 7 (February 28-March 4)

If I did not have an obligation to blog about each week at my internship site, I likely would have omitted this week from my collection of postings. This week wasn't a bad one by any means, but it was devoted primarily to me updating our expense records via labelling and scanning receipts. Once all of the receipts were "digitized" as PDFs, I created spreadsheets of expenditures that serve as our monthly expense reports. Beyond this, I could continue by providing you with more details about the mundane processes that make up the broader process of "record keeping" in our office. However, I am going to kind of mix things up a bit this week--to avoid putting you to sleep--and talk about an event I attended on Tuesday (the 1st) that was political but non work-related. This event was a speech by Meghan McCain, daughter of U.S. Senator John McCain.

• The speech wasn't intended to be academic per se, nor was it intended to be all that politically charged. Instead, it was simply a collection of Meghan's own views on how the Republican Party must "widen its tent" by moving away from some of its more restrictive stances on social issues (i.e. abortion and gay marriage) and focus its efforts on preserving free markets, individual rights and freedoms, as well as the ideals of a small, limited government.



• I know the speech resonated with me. And, judging by the number of identifiably "left-leaning" audience members present, Meghan certainly attracted a crowd that was indicative of her distaste for polarizing partisanship. This year especially, I have begun to consider myself more of a libertarian than a "cookie cutter" Republican. To be clear, I'm not a staunch libertarian in the sense of being opposed to all forms of government infrastructure and intervention. However, I do think that our current government is crippling our economy via its excessive spending demands and the ridiculous tax burdens it places on its tax-paying citizens. In addition, I believe the private sector is able to handle even our society's more "altruistic" dilemmas more efficiently and effectively than government is able to do so. Not surprisingly then, I hope to actively work toward limiting the scope government in this country throughout my lifetime. Not to be forgotten, however, is the idea that part of this work will involve embracing the broad-based tenets of individuality and individual choice surrounding a woman's right to an abortion and an individual's right to enter into a same-sex relationship.



• But enough about my beliefs and hopes for society's future. The point is that Meghan McCain delivered an inspiring "call to action" that successfully apologized for Republican missteps on social issues in one breath while reaffirming all of the things that make me proud to be a "Republican" in the next breath. In short, many thanks to Meghan for inspiring me and others like me who are tired of the Republican Party actively stifling diversity in its ranks. The Republican Party can indeed be great again. Let's steer it away from its current path of polarized obscurity and toward a more inclusive future!