My (Not Yet Facebook) Friend (Update: New Facebook Friend) Meghan McCain

Although Happily, she has yet to accept now accepted my Facebook friend request, [and] I highlight here Meghan McCain’s latest foray on The Daily Beast, this time renouncing Ann Coulter as the face of the Republican Party.  That is, says the daughter of the Republican Party’s latest presidential candidate, a recipe for disaster.  With David Frum putting Rush Limbaugh in proper perspective, here is another sane Republican voice.

…certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time. But no matter how much you or I disagree with her, the cult that follows Coulter cannot be denied. She is a New York Times best-selling author and one of the most notable female members of the Republican Party. She was one of the headliners at the recent CPAC conference (but when your competition is a teenager who has a dream about the Republican Party and Stephen Baldwin, it’s not really saying that much).

Meghan considers Coulter an extremist, while she refers to herself as a “progressive Republican.”  (Isn’t that an oxymoron?) This McCain is definitely not old-school, and looks at things in an issue-by-issue basis. Old school is Limbaugh and, says Meghan, Coulter.

She does appeal to the most extreme members of the Republican Party-but they are dying off, becoming less and less relevant to the party structure as a whole. I think most people my age are like me in that we all don’t believe in every single ideal of each party specifically. The GOP should be happy to have any young supporters whatsoever, even if they do digress some from traditional Republican thinking.

Ms. McCain questions whether the Coulter phenomenon is the result of a well-honed act more than true political belief.  And stylistically, do performers like Coulter and Limbaugh turn off more people to their cause than they attract?

More so than my ideological differences with Ann Coulter, I don’t like her demeanor. I have never been a person who was attracted to hate or negativity. I don’t believe in scare tactics and would never condone or encourage anyone calling President Obama a Muslim. But controversy sells and Coulter is nothing if not controversial. Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals. Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck.

As a liberal Democrat, I’d rather have Coulter and Limbaugh be the face of the GOP, not Meghan McCain.  That doesn’t serve my purpose.  After all, McCain is reasonable.  Now all she has to do to personally win me over is to accept my Facebook friend request.

UPDATE: Meghan has now friended me on Facebook.

Meghan McCain
Today at 9:12pm
I heard you were writing about me. I can’t believe my pieces get so much publicity. I have no idea why people are so interested in who I date and what I think of Ann Coulter but I guess they are…

Meghan McCain
Today at 9:13pm
ohh and friend me already! :-)

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.