The Mystique of Ann Coulter
Analyzing the second-most polarizing woman in American politics
Justin Hartfield

What is it about Ann Coulter? Liberals, why do you obsess about this conservative talking head above all others? Conservatives, why do you proclaim Ann Coulter as your champion when there are so many others more deserving of your reverence?

America’s insatiable desire for Ms. Coulter is fascinating. Is it just because she’s female? Or is it because she’s female and blonde and has a relatively attractive figure? Would Ms. Coulter have enjoyed the success she has had thus far if she were a homely 5’ 4” and 150 lbs housewife? Surely there are other brusque conservative authors who attack the Left which the same amount of fervor of Ms. Coulter, yet her popularity is high above that of her peers.

Perhaps it is Ms. Coulter’s style of communication which which leads to her polarization. Her criticisms of Liberals border between hyperbole and calumny. For example, she began a column about the start of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, "Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston..." . At an appearance at Indiana University, she claimed, "Liberals hate God and hate America."(1)

Her writing is decidedly mean-spirited and controversial, and so much so that it detracts from the points she is trying to make. Ms. Coulter lambasts the Liberals themselves. as well as their talking points, in the same sentence. By bifurcating her attacks in this manner, she can often lead an inexperienced Democrat debater to lose sight of his arguments and instead turn his attention on Ms. Coulter. Obviously, this is exactly what she is hoping for.

As a woman, Ms. Coulter is more in touch with her emotions than her male conservative pundit contemporaries. She utilizes this fact to her advantage. Her arguments often invoke emotional reactions to the reader. It is the classic example of pathos, one of the three methods of persuasion mentioned by Aristotle. To her credit, she seems to know exactly which proverbial buttons to press to make the Liberal monkeys dance.

These emotional arguments solicit a greater reaction coming from a female (and a reasonably attractive one, no less) than they would from a male of comparable talent. She blazed the trail which other female conservatives can walk upon.

Imagine a young outspoken female conservative, mid-20s, attractive shape, with a JD from Stanford. Her ticket is practically stamped before even starting. Pen a couple of controversial articles deriding gay marriage or promoting Christian values through the elimination of Muslim-Americans (making sure to prominently display a large photo of the author in a low-cut outfit) and you’ve got yourself instant buzz in the political community. Soon political bloggers will be unflatteringly photoshopping your picture next to Axis dictators and calling you “horse-face.” Perfect. A TV appearance on The Situation Room would follow, and you would publicly decry Wolf Blitzer as a Liberal “ass-clown.” The clip would be posted on the Internet exactly fifteen seconds after its airing and an instant celebrity would be born. But I digress.

Ann Coulter is a compromise. She takes all of the best logical arguments from the Right and integrates them into her work utilizing her flare for controversy to mock Liberals along the way. Despite her popularity, she knowingly (or not), weakens the substance of her political points through her combative style in order to increase her popularity and thus her wealth. If she argued her points logically, like she is very well-capable of doing, her work would get just as much as attention as other commercial conservative pundits. In fact, with her above-average intelligence and exceedingly strong work ethic, Ms. Coulter could become a beacon of conservative thought if she so chose.

However, Ms. Coulter‘s substance becomes secondary to her abrasive style. Debaters focus on the combative elements of her work and thus get sidetracked when attempting to disprove her talking points. As a consequence she becomes a caricature of the right-wing, never to be taken seriously and wholly ineffectual. Ms. Coulter is the girl your buddy denies seeing, even though you have caught them in bed together on more than one occasion. She lies underneath the Republican covers, and despite many possible suitors, no one in the Party stakes a claim in her unique brand of derogatory grandstanding.

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