Meghan McCain takes aim at Republican divas Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham [Updated]

There is something rather brave and, yes, even poignant about the attempts by Sen. John McCain's daughter, 24-year-old Meghan McCain, to call out the middle-aged Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham for their snarky and -- to Ms. McCain, at least -- gratuitously nasty ways of doing business
-- including, in Ingraham's case, making fun of McCain's weight.

McCain, who graduated from Columbia University in 2007, became a fixture on the campaign trail last year, traveling frequently with her father on the Straight Talk Express.

She and her girlfriends filed numerous reports at McCainBlogette.com about their adventures on the campaign trail.

True, McCain often focused on music, fun and fashion, but there was at the blog's heart a young, if privileged, woman's sincere attempt to convey her awakening conservative political sensibility and to....

attract younger voters to her septuagenarian father, who had trouble connecting to young voters.

McCain's blog went dark for awhile, and she resurfaced recently as a contributor to Tina Brown's new venture, the Daily Beast. How surprising, given the array of talent corralled by Brown, that McCain has emerged as the newsmaker of the operation. She wrote a column bemoaning the difficulty of finding a date once your dad's run for president. 

The other day, she took on Ann Coulter:

"I consider myself a progressive Republican, but here is what I don’t get about Coulter: Is she for real or not? Are some of her statements just gimmicks to gain publicity for her books, or does she actually believe the things she says?

Does she really believe all Jewish people should be “perfected” and become Christians? And what was she thinking when she said Hillary Clinton was more conservative than my father during the last election?

If you truly have the GOP’s best interests at heart, how can you possibly justify telling an audience of millions that a Democrat would be a better leader than the Republican presidential candidate?

"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. ... 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."

Coulter has so far ignored the provocation, but Laura Ingraham struck back, mocking McCain as “just another Valley Girl gone awry.”

Ingraham joked that McCain didn't get a role on a TV reality show because “they don’t like plus-sized models.” On Friday, McCain went after Laura Ingraham for that.

"I have been teased about my weight and body figure since I was in middle school, and I decided a very long time ago to embrace what God gave me and live my life positively, attempting to set an example for other girls who may suffer from body image issues.

I have nothing to hide: I am a size 8 and fluctuated up to a size 10 during the campaign. ...

"At this point, I have more respect for Ann Coulter than I do for Laura Ingraham because at least Coulter didn’t come back at me with heartless, substance-less attacks about my weight."

How far this goes is anyone's guess.

It is refreshing, though, to hear the call for a more civilized discourse coming from a youngster like McCain.

Update, 3:20 p.m.: Did we speak too soon? Today on "The View" Meghan McCain quoted Tyra Banks, who once wore a bathing suit on her talk show after gaining a few pounds and announced that her critics could "Kiss my fat ass." Well, McCain told the ladies of "The View," "That's what I feel like right now: Kiss my fat ass!"  So much for civilized discourse.

--Robin Abcarian

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Photos: Meghan McCain from mccainblogette.com; Ann Coulter by Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times; Laura Ingraham by Anthony Loew.

Comments

[Sam]

Props to Meghan for taking on the female Republican establishment! She is absolutely right - it takes a certain lack of class to mock someone's appearance instead of calmly analyzing their political views. Ingraham shows herself for what she is - an ugly woman with absolutely no class or taste. No wonder she never got married. No man in his right mind would want her.

[Ben]

I think Meghan McCain is absolutely stunning. To be attacked for her physical appearance is a joke, especially if is from someone that doesn't even come close to being as beautiful McCain.

[Laurel F.]

Meghan McCain is intelligent and refreshing, a welcome voice for moderation and centrism withing the Republican Party. I'm glad to see her taking on more strident, less tolerant Republican spokeswomen such as Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. Ms. McCain certainly has guts! More power to her!

[mypitts2]

Meghan McCain's got more guts than Michael Steele. Maybe she should be party chairwoman.

[No Diva There]

Divas? When was the definition of the word diva changed to include absolutely any person of the female sex?

[Laurence C, Little]

I find the voices of the radical reactionary cabal (Coulter, Ingraham, Limpboss) increasingly strident, blaring and finally, irrelevant. Ms.Coulter is absolutely uncompromising in her anti-(________) rhetoric. I must admit that I'd never heard of Ms. Ingraham before this truly tasteless diatribe against a young woman who had the complete audacity of having and (God forbid!!) actually expressing an opinion that exhibited some independent thought.

By-the-by, after seeing the pictures of Ms. McCain, I'm not certain what Ms. Ingraham is talking about. Ms, McCain is a beautiful, healthy, curvy young woman; not at all like the anorexic, concentration-camp soda straws that I suppose Ms. Ingraham prefers. Perhaps both Ms. Ingraham and Ms. Coulter should look in their respective mirrors and get off the Ivan Lindl lookalike merry-go-round.

[Suzanne]

"Middle aged", "plus sized" what's the difference....they are just adjectives. If you can't take the heat pack up your valley girl toys and go home!

[Eileen Hastings]

Way to go Meghan!
Don't back down to the middle-aged, over-rated bleached blondes who are the epitomy of the 50th anniverary "cougar" Barbie!
Let me be catty and you continue to take the high road, girl!

[susan Kroese]

This is all very interesting but I have friends who have lost their jobs and need to find affordable healthcare for their families.
I am beyond caring about what Ann Coulter or Laura Ingram say or what they believe. They are so far off the radar these days.
Having said that, I admire McCain for speaking out against the toxic minds of these women. It goes to show you that weight has nothing to do with behavior or intelligence.

[NOT MY PRESIDENT]

McCain's daughter is "Progressive" that's why she talks about fat ass on tv - behind the scenes she drops the "F" bomb consistently just as her "progressive" counterparts - Leftists and Liberals talk a good talk but their actions betray their talk - just like ol' man mccain - talk a good talk but the s.o.b. is a jerk that the conservatives should have turned out long ago...at least B.O. (stinky) could be easily "outed" as a leftist - too bad he was colored and wormed his way into office as our first Affirmative Action" prez - -

[Dale]

According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website:

Cougars use their paws and claws to trip prey (i.e. a swat to the rear legs) or grab it with their claws, then use their claws to hold their prey while delivering the kill-bite. A cougar’s strength and powerful jaws allow it to take down and drag prey larger than itself.

I would maintain in Laura Ingraham's case with Megan McCain that she lost her prey. It never is becoming of a middle-aged, unmarried "cougar" with wrinkled skin and biologically shifting cellulite to attack young, beautiful women they are jealous of.

[Andrea]

I don't think Meghan McCain is grossly large, however she's doing a serious disservice to women by lying about her size. Trust me, she is no size 8 or even size 10...especially considering her height. She is much larger. Meghan shouldn't lie about this fact, and by doing so she is giving into the media idea that she needs to be thinner than she really is. It would be better if she just didn't give a number at all. But if she insists on disclosing her size, at least be honest.

[MTB]

Meghan;

Bravo! I'm a conservative middle aged man and I have to say that for someone of your young age, you handled that very well! Bravo !

As far as Anne Coulture and that other person (purposely allowin the name to further sink into "Has Been" status, I will say what goes around comes around, so stand clear of them. When it comes back to hit them it's going to be huge, and you might want to be standing far enough away to be on the safe side.

Vicous middle aged women with a pen a limited and ever dwindling audience screaming to be heard. She stands there screaming in such a way as to draw more and more attention to herself. Shame neither of them actually ever put their witty sentences, and desire to write to any real public good.