Ann Coulter: Romney’s Our “Best Candidate”, Edwards is a “Faggot”

Yesterday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Mitt Romney spoke prior to Anne Coulter and referenced her upcoming speech:

I am happy to hear that after you hear from me, you will hear from Ann Coulter. That is a good thing. Oh yeah!

Coulter then went on to endorse Romney and call John Edwards a “faggot”…

 I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.

When asked what she thought of Romney’s candidacy, Coulter said that Romney was their “best candidate”:

What do I think of Governor Romney’s candidacy for presidency? I think he’s probably our best candidate. I mean, I think it is fair to say — and this is coming from someone who supported Pete DuPont, Alan Keyes, Pat Buchanan, Steve Forbes. So, you know, it’s not like I won’t go for an underdog. But I think we have to be serious about this, and I think our choice is among Gingrich, Giuliani, McCain and Romney. And Giuliani is very, very liberal. When this country gets to the point — I mean, I have a love letter to him in my current book, Godless. What he did for New York was magnificent. But when this country gets to the point where both presidential candidates support abortion, I think we can hang it up as a country.

And McCain, I think has some problems, because everyone who supports him would have to switch party registrations to vote for him. I love Gingrich. I think he’s brilliant. He was crucial, the man for his time. We don’t know if he’s running for president, but assuming he is, I kind of think his time has passed, and I don’t know, you know, it could come back again, like ’80s music, but I think his time is over. And you have to say about Romney, he tricked liberals into voting for him. I like a guy — I like a guy who hoodwinks liberals so easily. And also, the one thing that I have a very soft spot for is that I love Mormons. And the reason why I love Mormons, well, among other things, is — you may have forgotten this — Bill Clinton in Utah in 1992 came in third in Utah. Now, that’s a fine state.

Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party, responded by demanding that Republicans denounce Coulter’s insult:

There is no place in political discourse for this kind of hate-filled and bigoted comments. While Democrats and Republicans may disagree on the issues, we should all be able to agree that this kind of vile rhetoric is out of bounds. The American people want a serious, thoughtful debate of the issues. Republicans — including the Republican presidential candidates who shared the podium with Ann Coulter today — should denounce her hateful remarks.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney seems to be enjoying a bit of a bump in the primary race resulting from Coulter’s endorsement and all this (much needed) attention to his candidacy.  With 1,705 votes cast, Romney went on to win the CPAC straw poll:

Mitt Romney — 21%

Rudy Guiliani — 17%

Sam Brownback — 15%

Newt Gingrich — 14%

John McCain — 12%

The Edwards campaign rightfully seized the opportunity to earn some cash and increase their political clout by sending out a campaign email with the subject line “Shame on you, Ann Coulter”:

I say we fight. Help us raise $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” this week to show every would-be Republican mouthpiece that their bigoted attacks will not intimidate this campaign. I just threw in 100 bucks. Will you join me? Coulter’s attack was no accident. It happened on national television at one of the year’s biggest conservative conferences. Dick Cheney and most of the Republican candidates were in the audience. She was even introduced by Mitt Romney.John was singled out for a personal attack because the Republican establishment knows he poses the greatest threat to their power. Since they have nothing real to use against him, Coulter’s resorting to the classic right-wing strategy of riling up hate to smear a progressive champion. And the Republican attack dogs will keep playing this despicable trick as long as they think it works.But this time, you and I can change the game.If we can raise $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” this week, we can show that bigotry will only backfire on those who use it. John is not the first progressive leader to face this kind of slime, but together, we can make sure he is one of the last.

 [UPDATE 1] Rob Bluey, Director of The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Media & Public Policy and CPAC Official Blogger has a first hand account of Romney’s initial response to Coulter’s endorsement: “Romney said he wasn’t aware of it, but welcomed the support. His wife appeared even more excited than he did.”  Of course, it appears as though he wasn’t aware of the content of her speech when he eagerly accepted the endorsement.

[Update 2] Republican Candidates denounce Coulter’s remarks…

McCain’s spokesman: “The comments were wildly inappopriate.”
Giuliani (himself): ”The comments were completely inappropriate and there should be no place for such name-calling in political debate.”
Romney’s spokesman:  ”It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect.”

Eh, it’s not exactly the strongest denouncement when it’s said through a spokesperson, but again, it’s not as though it was the candidate’s themselves were the ones that said the offensive comment about Edwards.