Has Ann Coulter lost her edge?

The New York Times says the sharp-tongued commentator has been forced to soften her politics now that the Tea Party speaks for the far Right

Some wonder if Coulter might be overshadowed by the Tea Party.
(Image credit: Corbis)

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.

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