That Coulter Woman

I have never understood the popularity of Ann Coulter. She is so purposefully mean and hateful - what is the entertainment in that? I know she has her own following, but I just don't get it. Even as a writer she is, at best, mediocre and cites her own quotes. Seems a little off.

It appears her book sales are down a bit. According to Portfolio Magazine, just over 100,000 copies of her book have sold in two months on the market. Although this is still a large number, her past books have sold far more. Portfolio reports: "2006's "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," sold 279,100 copies in hardcover, 2003's "Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terror," sold 396,600 hardcover copies, and 2002's "Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right," sold 333,100 copies and an additional 108,300 in paperback."

So it seems that her following is also dwindling a bit, and she seems to be quiet lately - quite a blessing, I might add (at least before she starts her new tour). Now Meghan McCain has jumped into the mix. On CNNPolitics.com, her comments on both Republicans and Coulter are quite insightful and amusing:

In a new blog post for the Daily Beast as Ann Coulter and HBO host Bill Maher are kicking off a week-long debate tour today in New York, McCain calls President Obama “the hippest politician around” and says being a Republican is “about as edgy as Donny Osmond.”

And she blasts Coulter for helping to “perpetuate negative stereotypes” about Republican women. “I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity,” says McCain. “I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.”

She concedes that Coulter seems to be followed by a “cult that cannot be denied,” and was a popular headliner at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, but adds that “when your competition is a teenager who has a dream about the Republican Party and Stephen Baldwin, it’s not really saying that much.”

It’s not Coulter’s politics, says McCain — it’s her personality. “Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck,” she says.

Maybe people are just plain sick and tired of her nasty, malevolent comments all the time. Or maybe they too wonder why she is clearly rich, but always wears the same black cocktail dress - not only on every book cover, but everywhere else she goes.