Has Ann Coulter lost her edge?

Ann Coulter has long been one of the most controversial pundits on the Right. But "now that members of the Tea Party movement have stolen much of her thunder," says Laura M. Holson in The New York Times, Coulter is "taking some surprising new positions." She called President Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan "insane," warning that the Afghan war could become a new Vietnam. She told fellow Republicans to stop insisting Obama is Muslim. And she has pushed to bring more gays "into the conservative fold." Is Coulter trying to change her image to keep from being overshadowed by the Tea Party?

The Times is just trying to undermine her: Ann Coulter hasn't changed, says Mickey Kaus at Newsweek. She has been "privately expressing doubts about Afghanistan's 'winnability' for years," and a book she published in 2007 contains a chapter on "why gays should join the GOP." The Times is simply accusing Coulter of changing with the political winds to discredit her, and make it appear her conservatism is an act.

"Ann Coulter gets the New York Times Sunday sneer treatment"

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Coulter will say anything to stay in the spotlight: Ann Coulter can't possibly believe the garbage "that comes out of her mouth," says Michael Tedesco at Comments from Left Field. But saying offensive and outrageous things has made her a celebrity, and now that extremism has gone mainstream in the GOP, her "stardom" is in danger. She is merely finding "another corner of the landfill of filthy human ideas" she can call her own, so her career will be safe.

"Facing irrelevance, Ann Coulter and the NY Times pair up"

Any changes are purely superficial: Okay, so Coulter is outflanked on the right by those who insist Obama is a "foreign-born sleeper agent," says Tom Scocca at Slate. But her latest zinger on gay marriage — "Marriage is not a civil right" — hardly qualifies as saying "nice things to gay people." If Coulter is trying to be "open-minded," she's not trying very hard. And if she is tweaking her image to avoid becoming a "has-been," it is a "minor re-branding" indeed.

"Fading Ann Coulter loses online popularity contest to Pamela Geller"