She is a co-host of 'The View'. She's the daughter of Arizona's late senior Senator. And she's finding her way through the most transformative year of her life the best she can.
Meghan McCain is unapologetic for her grief. So real. So raw. So public.
"I still just cry talking about him," she tells me at The View's New York City studios.
Like so many experiencing deep loss, she counts the days. Her Instagram account is filled with loving tributes, photos, and home videos of their special bond.
She tells me, "I don't mean to get emotional. I'm only just eight months out of it, and I loved my Dad more than anything in the entire world and I love Arizona more than anything in the entire world."
But what has happened since, she confesses, is something that has surprised her. She hasn't been home to Arizona.
"The last time I was in Arizona, my Dad died. And, I think it's just gonna be a lot when I go home. I think I'm going to be so overwhelmed in so many different ways."
She says, she plans to eventually come home in August during a three-week hiatus from 'The View'. She says it will be the right time to fully grieve.
"And I really do hope I can do it. I am the toughest woman I know, and I still think in August, it's going to be the right time."
Meghan McCain isn't shy about her Arizona pride. She reveals, "my dressing room is filled with cacti and in my apartment, it is all Western and Arizona-themed."
So much so, pop culture has taken note. She was a question on 'Jeopardy' and spoofed on 'Saturday Night Live', where they called her "The Princess of Arizona."
She laughs, "I hope people in Arizona are not like 'Oh my god, we don't want her! She's ridiculous.' I know SNL is an exaggeration, but I really am like 'as someone from Arizona...' because I think it's important for people to know that when you're watching the show {The View} that not everyone is from New York City, but I hope Arizonans weren't offended."
In her career, she is transparent about what she calls: a massive motivator. She says, "there are no secrets in life, other than working very hard. People are always going to assume that I only have my job because of my father. And I think that's what drives me, is the insecurity, that people always think that my job is handed to me. So, I go into every job trying to grind harder than everybody else, to prove that I have the right to be there."
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She does not, however, plan to follow in her dad's footsteps, saying legacy politics is a tough sell in America.
"I'm not entitled to anything. You're not entitled to run to the office, just simply because you have famous parents. I don't think talent like that necessarily translates."
She might not want to live politics, but she does plan to follow it, especially in her home state.
"If Arizona becomes a blue state, you should have one of your cameras on me, on election night, because I think my head is going to explode. It's going to be such a crazy turn of politics. I just find what's going on in the country really fascinating. And I think that people misunderstand that Arizona is an independent-thinking state, and the voters take their vote really seriously, which is why I always think it's so special."
