Ann Coulter: “my job is to be an attack dog, and I think I’m great at it”

Devon Zawko, Staff Writer

Polarizing conservative speaker Ann Coulter visited Kennesaw State University on April 22 to speak in the Bailey Performance Center. She was invited by KSU College Republicans to discuss what Republicans need to stop doing if they want to win the upcoming presidential election. Ann Coulter is not one for mincing words. “That’s my job to be an attack dog, and I think I’m great at it,” Coulter said.

Coulter focused mostly on immigration, gun laws, and the liberal leaning mainstream media. “Our immigration policy is anyone who lives within walking distance,” Coulter said. To the audience’s delight, Coulter did not let political correctness get in the way of common sense or a good joke.

Coulter believes that immigration is the issue Americans care most about going into the 2016 election. The GOP could actually be the Populist Party if they vehemently attack immigration in the same way the NRA attacks gun laws. “I’m pretty sure republicans are about to find out that most Americans raise their own kids, cook their own food, drive their own cars,” Coulter said.

With so many conservative candidates throwing their hats into the ring, it was surprising to hear that her top pick was Mitt Romney, especially since Romney has said he will not be running.

“I like Scott Walker,” Coulter said. “I think he’d be better after serving as Romney’s Vice President.”

This may surprise young voters who seem to support candidates who aren’t as entrenched in the Republican Party machine. Rand Paul has been exciting the younger generation of voters, though he has been blasted about how he deals with the media and female reporters. The week he announced his candidacy he lost his temper with an NBC news anchor starting his campaign out on a sour note. “This is the problem with libertarians. They’re like special needs children. They can be lovable, but they’re a lot of work,” Coulter said.

Coulter firmly believes that candidates should not be the attack dogs when it comes to mainstream media. That is her job. But attacking the media may not be enough when Hillary Clinton has raised over 2.5 billion dollars for her campaign. Among the republican candidates Jeb Bush has far outraised the other candidates. Coulter believes however that money will not decide the presidency. “I think voters are more important than money as Jeb Bush is about to find out,” Coulter said.

Very few Kennesaw students were in attendance for Coulter’s lecture, possibly because those topics she deems of lesser importance are actually of the upmost importance for college students. Students cannot even grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks without being asked to discuss racial issues. The media has been pushing the war on feminism for many months now. While students may feel that feminism is an important national discussion, Coulter sees it as the media grasping at straws on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

“I’ve been noticing the increasing hysteria from feminists on MSNBC,” Coulter said. “I just feel like the sharks are circling as Democrats realize, ‘awe crap [Clinton] is a lousy candidate.’”

She takes care to walk the audience through the media strategy regarding such issues as gender equality, racism, and gun control. First the story comes out only to be discovered it’s a hoax. Regardless of the story’s validity, the liberal media asks us to recognize it as a representative of an epidemic. This rings true for the recent Rolling Stones article about the UVA rape on campus as well as Ferguson’s “Hands up don’t shoot.” While the stories are not true, that does not keep the media from using them to champion a cause.

Coulter argues that if these situations occur so often, why doesn’t the media choose an incident that actually happened.

In several universities across the nation the media has shown the complete fear university students are overcome with when a conservative woman steps foot on campus. However at Kennesaw State University there were no protests or angry students awaiting Ann Coulter. In fact, there were very few students in attendance at all.

Amber Kruger, Chair of the Kennesaw State University College Republicans gave her thoughts on Coulter’s visit. “Each republican speaker draws a different crowd and Ann Coulter tends to draw a little bit of an older crowd,” Kruger said. Kruger also believes that upcoming finals may have kept students from attending the program.

Coulter’s no holds barred approach may come off as insensitive to some who cringe at anyone so firmly set in their beliefs, but she certainly charmed the audience with her frankness and conservative fortitude. When asked the source of her conservative philosophy, Coulter said, “I can say with absolute certainty there is not a democrat in my family.”el