Ann Coulter’s Journey to Damascus

After a bizarre summer of exceptionally objectionable commentary and extraordinarily foolish statements,[1] Ann Coulter abruptly about-faced,[2] seemingly changing her spots.[3]

It was as if a hand from heaven reached down, deep down into the bottomless pit that Ann was digging herself deeper and deeper into, and grasped her hand, stopping her descent into oblivion; a hand that lifted her out of her own Ann-crafted prison of a pit and granted her freedom; a hand that granted grace to a person whose name means grace.

Ann on Her Road to Damascus

What happened? Did Ann experience a conversion on her own personal road to Damascus? Did God grant Ann an epiphany? Was Ann able to see herself, her circumstances, and the world from a different (heavenly) vantage point. Is the new and improved Ann Coulter the result of a paradigm shift, a change in attitude and perspective, with a consequent change in behavior?

In a series of comments and commentaries over the past two decades, Coulter has previously dismissed Road to Damascus conversions as liberal propaganda devices. Coulter regularly contests those who claim “lifelong conservative” status but then dare to criticize her and she denies that conservatives can ever become liberals. (She must think it’s easier to become a faithful follower of Christ than to become a godless liberal, as she would put it.) Here are three examples from her writings:

• “But liberals think they can fool normal people with their road-to-Damascus I used to be a Republican!’ conversion stories.”[4]
• “[Supreme Court Justice John Paul] Stevens is more like a pre-road to Damascus Or maybe the late Justice William Brennan.”[5]
• “I did not know the road to Damascus was this long, with so many opportunities for conversion.”[6]

Is Coulter on the very road she once pooh-poohed? If so, she should thank the hand that grasped hers and lifted her out of her self-made pit.

Analysis of Most Recent Ann Coulter Columns

Having seen Ann at her worst this summer, examining her ten most recent columns may give us insight into her current intellectual, emotional, and spiritual state of being. (My critique concentrates more on the literary quality of her writing than on the accuracy of her claims or the cogency of her analysis.)

8/20/14.[7] ***½ . This was Coulter’s first laudable column this past summer. It was an abrupt departure from her previous columns going back months. It was non-polemical, factual, and very tame for a Coulter column. Prompted by the Ferguson firestorm, Coulter decried “the old media’s standard for any police shooting of a black person is: ‘Racist until proved innocent.’” Coulter went point-by-point through the known facts of the Ferguson case and also encapsulated the long history of race hoaxes in America.[8]

8/27/14.[9] ****. Another non-polemical, factual column. As a Ferguson follow-up, Coulter explained how racial quotas in hiring police officers can be lethal. Her claim – “If the Ferguson police are forced to hire more minorities and women for the sake of diversity, the one thing we can be sure of is that more black people will be murdered, raped and assaulted” – is backed up by ample evidence. In lowering standards, everyone is accepted, regardless of how unqualified they may actually be.

9/3/14.[10] ****. Coulter debunks the myth of racial profiling for traffic stops, pointing out the flawed methodology in an oft-cited study: “As is usually the case with bogus race studies, the pivotal 1993 survey compared speed stops on the New Jersey turnpike to the population of all drivers on the turnpike – not with the population of all speeders on the turnpike.”

9/10/14.[11] ***½. Somewhat polemical, Coulter effectively makes her point: “Getting Obama to postpone a rancid idea [executive amnesty] isn’t something to celebrate. Yay! We did it! We forced him to delay doing something the country doesn’t want for SIX WEEKS! Every Republican candidate better be jamming Obama’s threat down the throats of their Democratic opponents.”

9/17/14.[12] ****½. One of my favorite columns[13] from a literary perspective. My favorite quote for its imagery: “Turn that into a mnemonic, sew it on needlepoint pillows, include it in your wedding vows, right-wingers. For the next six weeks, nothing matters more to the country than Republicans taking a majority in the Senate.” Second quote: “That means Republicans need to flip three Democratic seats to take a majority in the Senate. Hopefully, the GOP will take more than three, and store them like chestnuts for a long, cold winter.”[14]

9/24/14.[15] ****. A good, factual exhortation. Conclusion: “Republicans can win a Senate majority, take back the presidency, repeal Obamacare, build the Keystone pipeline, slash oppressive government regulations, end special tax deals and government contracts for the Democrats’ big donors, restore an honest IRS and nominate serious people to the federal bench. But they’ll never do any of those things if they can’t learn that mass immigration from the Third World is wildly unpopular with voters.”

10/1/14.[16] ****½. Engaging and light-hearted, Coulter debunks several liberal myths: guns, domestic violence, Obama death threats. Coulter writes: “The theme of all these liberal fantasies is that the greatest threat to women, minorities and liberals are right-wing white men with guns – especially on a Super Bowl Sunday. (Referees are beheaded at soccer games in Brazil, but liberals are terrified of America’s national sport.) White men are even threats to themselves, should they be foolish enough to purchase a gun.”

10/8/14.[17] ***. Clever (in using other people’s words to speak for her), on point, but minimalist effort. Relies heavily on Washington Times’ comment board and incorporates her own witty remarks. Conclusion: “The Republican leadership has got to choose between their voters and their donors. They can’t have both – at least as long as the donors keep big-footing the conservative base on immigration. No amount of money in the world is going to help a candidate who’s allowed to sell only crap.” A minor quibble: “crap” is an unladylike word to use.

10/15/14.[18] *****. Superb, factual, well-reasoned, incisive, non-polemical. Coulter on Ebola: “It’s becoming increasingly clear this is just another platform for Obama to demonstrate that we are citizens of the world. The entire Ebola issue is being discussed – by our government, not the United Nations – as if Liberians are indistinguishable from Americans, and U.S. taxpayers should be willing to pay whatever it takes to save them.” And: “And now we’re going to have to let in entire families with Ebola, because the important thing is – actually, I don’t know why. It’s some technical, scientific point about fences not working.”

10/22/14.[19] ****½. Another top-notch column. Coulter on Obamacare: “As we now know, under the ‘Affordable Care Act,’ your only options are: (1) Take the crap-ass, high-priced/no doctor Obamacare plan; or (2) go bare, and risk being bankrupted by an expensive medical problem. Either way, the price will be astronomical.” One minor quibble: “crap-ass” is an unladylike word to use.

Dramatic Improvement

Almost overnight, Ann’s commentary dramatically improved. Despite a few rough edges, most of her ten columns were commendable, engaging, edifying, and enjoyable. They represent a much improved literary style and craftsmanship.

The question remains, what of Ann’s underlying character traits. Veracity and integrity are non-negotiable in journalism – and in living a Christian life. Let us pray that the quality of Ann’s character come to match and exceed that of her craft.

Update: With the close of the 2014 election cycle and the advent of winter, Coulter appears to have reverted to her old, unconverted self. Beset by delusions of grandeur, Coulter again wants to dictate to the American people whom they can nominate for President.

Endnotes:

[1]       “Ann Coulter Screws Up Again” at http://t.co/IfJD3YVG3o.

[2]       “Ann Coulter Takes on the Racial Grievance Industry” at http://t.co/YgG2rpgZIc.

[3]       “Ann Coulter at Her Best” at http://wp.me/p4jHFp-2u.

[4]       Ann Coulter, “The Devil is Out of Details,” 5/5/05.

[5]       Ann Coulter, “Stevens: ‘I Never Left Sanity. Sanity Left Me,” 4/14/10.

[6]       Ann Coulter, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, Crown Forum, 2006, pg. 140.

[7]       Ann Coulter, “No Facts, No Peace,” 8/20/14. It’s title – “No Facts, No Peace” – accurately expresses the reality that lies and deception ruin relationships (personal, professional, familial, communal) and wreak havoc in all areas of life.

[8]       “Ann Coulter Takes on the Racial Grievance Industry” at http://t.co/YgG2rpgZIc.

[9]       Ann Coulter, “Would it Kill You to Hire More Cops? (Yes),” 8/27/14.

[10]     Ann Coulter, “Speed Kills Racial Profiling Study,” 9/3/14.

[11]     Ann Coulter, “Get Angry Now,” 9/10/14.

[12]     Ann Coulter, “Your ‘To Do’ List to Save America,” 9/17/14.

[13]     Apart from final sentence which contains elimination rhetoric.

[14]     “Ann Coulter at Her Best” at http://wp.me/p4jHFp-2u.

[15]     Ann Coulter, “GOP Bordering on Victory,” 9/24/14.

[16]     Ann Coulter, “You Can’t Keep a Good Myth Down, 10/1/14.

[17]     Ann Coulter, “GOP’s Big Idea: Let’ Not Have a Wave Election,” 10/8/14.

[18]     Ann Coulter, “We’ll Tell You How Dangerous Ebola is After the Election,” 10/15/14.

[19]     Ann Coulter, “Jeanne Shaheen’s Ebola Opportunities Team,” 10/22/14.

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Ann Coulter’s Root Causes – Part IV

(November 6, 2012)

How did Christian polemicist Ann Coulter become such a controversial, confrontational, and contradictory figure?

Coulter is revered and reviled in America and around the world. Few who know her are on the fence. Many who know her have discerned a “mass of contradictions” in her life and her work.

How did a Conservative Icon become a RINO?

Why would a professing Christian attack selfless Christians?

The first three parts in this four-part series cover Coulter’s life and career from birth through 9/11/01 and beyond: (1) Born and bred an elite groomed for success, (2) Coulter struck gold with the Clinton impeachment saga, but (3) found herself in freefall at the turn of the millennium.

However, within just a few years, the Comeback Queen reached her zenith with several bestselling books under her mini-skirted belt. She became a much sought after AAA-list celebrity who could command lucrative speaking fees while headlining a variety of events.

With her considerable political clout as a Conservative Icon, one would think hers was the perfect life (as she herself has claimed). One would be wrong.

Even in the midst of her achievements, Ann’s contradictions and inconsistencies grew.

Despite her manifest success, Coulter’s life and career started to fall apart by the middle of the first decade of this century.

Ironically, even as Ann was achieving the pinnacle of her success to make her parents proud, she was losing her father to dementia. Her third book, Treason (2003), was her last book that her father would be able to comprehend. (He died in 2008.)

Ann’s parents deeply impacted her life, as she herself explained, “Your parents are your whole world when you are a child.”[1]

John V. Coulter Passes Away

Coulter’s father died on January 4, 2008. Coulter’s touching eulogy, published just a few days after his death, began with these words:[2]

“As Mother and I stood at Daddy’s casket Monday morning, Mother repeated his joke to him, which he said on every wedding anniversary until a few years ago when Lewy bodies dementia prevented him from saying much at all: ‘54 years, married to the wrong woman.’ And we laughed.”

Coulter continued:

“And last Friday morning at 2 he passed away, in his bedroom with Mother. The police and firemen told my brother that they kept trying to distract Mother to keep her away from the bedroom with Father’s body, but she kept padding back into the bedroom to be close to him.”

Father was Ann’s rock, her sense of security, and a person whose integrity she admired and depended upon. Ann wrote, “Besides being very funny, Father had an absolutely straight moral compass without ever being preachy or judgmental or even telling us in words. He just was good.”

It is interesting to read Ann’s tribute to her father in the context of who Ann has become. Ann wrote: “Father hated puffery, pomposity, snobbery, fake friendliness, fake anything.” She continued, “Father didn’t care what popular opinion was: There was right and wrong.”

Now Ann’s rock was gone. The “absolutely straight moral compass” no longer there as an example or available for guidance. And Ann’s ability to discern “right and wrong” would suffer.

Nell Husbands Martin Coulter Passes Away

Ann’s mother died on April 14, 2009.

Nell Coulter succumbed to ovarian cancer after a five-year battle. She began her “final decline” the previous fall, when chemo treatments failed to work, prompting Ann to cancel speaking engagements, delay the publication of her next book, and tend to her mother.

Ann recalled, “I’ve been looking at her across the room in doctors’ offices over the past few years, thinking to myself: There will come a point when you won’t see that face again.”[3]

The void left by her passing was evident in Ann’s poignant tribute:

“A lot of people claim to be my No. 1 fan – God bless them – but my true No. 1 fan left this world last week. My mother quietly stopped breathing last Tuesday, as she slept peacefully, holding my hand.”

Ann added, “She was the biggest fan of all of us – Father, me and my brothers John and Jim.”

Continuing, “Her angelic face always looked like home to me. My whole life, as soon as I’d see my mother’s face I’d know I was safe, whether I was a little girl lost in a department store or a big girl with a problem, who needed her mother.”

If Father provided Ann with moral guidance and an example of integrity, Mother provided security and unconditional love. According to Ann, Mother’s “most notable characteristic” was “her constant, unconditional love.”

Gone.

Little Girl Lost

Since her double-loss, Ann has been without her familial North Star. Having lost her touchstone (“a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized”), Coulter’s judgment has suffered.

The apostle Paul advised, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ (Eph. 4:14-15).”

Ann has been tossed to and fro for many years. She has embraced political and theological positions totally at odds were those of her parents and opposed to her own stated positions in years past. Indeed, even as she expresses one set of views in public, she opposes them in practice.

Though a proponent of the nuclear family and traditional mores, Coulter courted the gay lobby and became a Gay Icon.

Though claiming to be staunchly pro-life, she has criticized others for being too pro-life.

Once a speaker at Tea Party rallies and a former Sarah Palin fan, Coulter now thwarts the efforts of the Tea Party movement to achieve its limited government goals.

Claiming her life’s work is derived from her Christian faith, many of Coulter’s words and actions have been decidedly anti-Christian.

Claiming to be anti-establishment, Coulter continually supports RINO candidates like Christie and Romney, deeming them more “electable,” principles be damned.

Obama Defeats Romney

Ann was devastated with Romney’s defeat in 2012. Coulter said, “If Mitt Romney cannot win in this economy, then the tipping point has been reached. … There is no hope.”[4]

Consider these words – spoken nearly two years later: “I was as depressed as I’ve ever been in my life – and I’m including my parents dying – after Obama won the second time beating Romney …”[5]

Ann’s worst depression was after Romney’s defeat? Not after the deaths of her parents following years of their deteriorating health?

Just last night, Coulter exclaimed, “I think the last presidential election was the most important election. But as we keep losing, each election becomes ‘oh, my gosh, this is our last shot.’ It makes me want to cry with tears of rage.”[6]

The reelection of Obama on November 6, 2012, dramatically impacted Ann’s life in perhaps incalculable ways. To this day, she insists Romney was the ideal candidate and she rejects the notion that she herself was in part to blame for the GOP not getting a better – winning – candidate.

Coulter makes excuse after excuse for Romney’s loss – and other losses in the Senate – all to deflect blame from herself. Moreover, Coulter still – to this day – wants Romney to run again in 2016. When recently asked about that prospect, she immediately declared, “I hope so. Oh, I hope so.”[7]

Her tenth book, Never Trust a Liberal Over 3 – Especially a Republican, fared poorly in sales and is her only book (thus far) not to make the New York Times best-seller list.[8]

Coulter began a campaign, it seems, to alienate as many natural allies as she can. She has blamed pro-lifers for being too pro-life, Libertarians for being too Libertarian, the Tea Party for being too anti-establishment, and Christians for, well, being Christians.

This past summer, it seemed as if Coulter had descended into madness. Week after week, Coulter’s columns expressed foolishness, xenophobia, anti-logic, unrivaled polemicism, and impenitent arrogance. Coulter even – twice – defamed Christian missionaries serving in Ebola-laden nations, calling them hypocrites seeking glory.

Whither Ann?

Ann Hart Coulter – born and bred a political, socio-economic, and religious elite – sought stardom and succeeded. Having achieved success, she was traumatized by a reversal of fortune and the fall of the Twin Towers. While struggling with the devastation wrought by terrorists and, later, seeing her own career diminish, Ann lost her father to dementia, her mother to cancer, and her hopes in Romney defeating Obama.

Throughout it all, we have witnessed the ups and downs in Ann’s life, and see countless contradictions and conundrums in her words and her actions. It’s as if the Ann Coulter that each of us knows is a different Ann Coulter.

Perhaps Ann has never been able to discover who she really is, or who she really wants to be. She has certainly been compelled to seek the limelight and thrives in the glory. Yet, somehow, that has not been enough. The values imparted by her parents and her faith are often lacking in her life.

With her personal, professional, and political losses, Coulter seems fearful and desperate to find her way in uncertain times. Yet her refusal to repent (or forgive) obscures her vision and prevents her from seeing the truth and discovering God’s will for her life.

Resources:

Chapter 9: “The Goddess of the Conservative Movement,” The Beauty of Conservatism, 2011, available as a free download at www.coulterwatch.com/beauty.pdf.

Chapter 10: “Equality: Self-Evident Truths,” The Gospel According to Ann Coulter, 2012, available as a free download at www.coulterwatch.com/gospel.pdf.

Chapter 8: “The Lost Art of the Eulogy: It’s ALL About ME!,” Vanity: Ann Coulter’s Quest for Glory, 2012, available as a free download at www.coulterwatch.com/vanity.pdf.

Appendix 1: “Is Breaking Bad Breaking Good for Ann Coulter?” Never Trust Ann Coulter – at ANY Age, 2013, available as a free download at www.coulterwatch.com/never.pdf.

Endnotes:

[1]       Ann Coulter, “JOHN VINCENT COULTER,” 1/9/08.

[2]       Ibid. Ann dedicated Treason: “FOR MY FATHER, JOHN V. COULTER.”

[3]       Ann Coulter, “NELL HUSBANDS MARTIN COULTER,” 4/22/09.

[4]       Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham Show, 11/7/12, http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/07/ann-coulter-laura-ingraham-debate-how-romney-lost-the-election-audio/.

[5]       Ann Coulter, Eagle Forum Collegians Leadership Summit, 7/11/14.

[6]       Ann Coulter, Howie Carr Show, 10/23/14.

[7]       Ann Coulter, O’Reilly Factor, FNC, 10/18/14.

[8]       See Never Trust Ann Coulter – at ANY Age at www.coulterwatch.com/never.pdf.

Ann Coulter Goes Off Half-Cocked on Tea Party

Ann Coulter was off of national television for over two months – and she should have stayed in her “bat cave.”[1]

In her return debut, Coulter hailed Mitt Romney as the great conservative hope for 2016. Responding to the suggestion by Bill O’Reilly that Romney might again be the GOP nominee for president, Coulter exclaimed, “I hope so. Oh, I hope so.”[2]

I hope so?

Oh, I hope so???

Romney Rave

Coulter’s former fans on Free Republic took her to task for this lunacy.

“Good Lord, the one Republican politician in all of the United States who can’t run against Obamacare and Ann Coulter wants him to run again.”

“ann is a pod person.”

“This is about year 8 that Ann has been pushing Mitt. Someone should point out to her that during his 22 years of campaigning, he has won a single election with less than 50% and was driven from office that he wanted to win reelection to, exiting with 34% approval and losing the seat to the democrats after having been the fourth Republican governor in a row.”

“Ann thinks Mitt’s last campaign against the worst president in America’s history was impressive. She especially likes the way he defined his principles and initiatives in contrast to Obama, and how he aggressively countered Obama’s campaign and policies.”

“Coulter is all over the map. She lost it long ago. ‘Romney would be great in 2016, or Cruz.’ That makes no sense. When she makes sense, she must be viewed as undependable, politically toxic, since she can turn on a dime.”

Tea Party Tempest

Three days later, on Hannity, Coulter blamed GOP consultants and, principally, the Tea Party for previous Republican defeats.

“The reason this election is so important is because we have blown Senate seats – I say ‘we’ – you have the Republican consultants on one hand you cannot trust because they’re beholden to the Chamber of Commerce and then you have the base – these Tea Partiers – running off and causing Republicans to lose elections. But for elections lost by Republican consultants and/or the Tea Party, we would already have [a Republican majority in the Senate].”[3]

Notice her use of the imperial “we,” which she quickly redefined as “I’m not to blame.”

Coulter accepts zero blame for Romney’s debacle in 2012 and still touts him as the perfect candidate for the GOP in 2016. Romney lost and, therefore, had no coattails. Running RINOs will never attract the conservative vote.

But Coulter prefers to besmirch principled Republican candidates with character and, instead, support “electable” candidates like Romney and Christie who are fake conservatives. It can never work.

There are many reason why Coulter is no longer trusted. See Never Trust Ann Coulter – at ANY Age, at www.coulterwatch.com/never.pdf.

Endnotes:

[1]       Coulter’s coy term for her isolation from humanity in order to complete her next book.

[2]       Ann Coulter, O’Reilly Factor, FNC, 10/18/14.

[3]       Ann Coulter, Hannity, FNC, 10/21/14.

Ann Coulter at Her Best

Yesterday’s Ebola column by Ann Coulter was priceless.[1] Factual, well-reasoned, incisive, witty, non-polemical. (I wouldn’t change a word.)

Coulter also wrote a literary gem[2] a few weeks ago which I would like to share with you.[3]

Entitled “Your ‘to do’ list to save America,” Ann addressed the upcoming elections with insight, wit, and vigor. I thoroughly enjoyed her literary style (while disagreeing with a few of her points). It was well written and engaging, with a good overall structure, and it adroitly expressed her intended message with flair. Forceful, yet restrained.

Coulter opened with the need to “swing the Senate to Republican control,” then, in her second paragraph, wrote my favorite sentence in this column:

“Turn that into a mnemonic, sew it on needlepoint pillows, include it in your wedding vows, right-wingers.” Beautiful imagery, quaint, to the point, with a cascading effect which lends a subtle sense of mounting urgency.

Coulter concluded her paragraph:

“For the next six weeks, nothing matters more to the country than Republicans taking a majority in the Senate. When it comes to politics, conservatives need to learn one thing from liberals: All that matters is winning.”

Next, she handily handicapped key Senate races in a straightforward, yet interesting and compelling way.[4]

Below, Coulter’s parenthetical (restrained) rebuke of Republicans was an “I told you so” without saying “I told you so.” She wrote:

“(Take a moment to notice something, Republicans: No incumbent Democrat had to deal with a primary challenger this year. That’s one reason why Democrats win more elections than their insane ideas would seem to dictate. Liberals understand that you can’t do anything if you don’t win, so Democrats don’t stage primary fights against other Democrats.)”

Ann next gave us all “assignments.” The first was for Sen. Pat Roberts to campaign nonstop to victory. In another dig at the GOP, she again chided, “I don’t know why Roberts got a primary challenge at all. Please stop doing that, Republicans.”[5]

Coulter emphasized the need to flip enough “Democratic seats to take a majority in the Senate,” then, beautifully added, “Hopefully, the GOP will take more than three, and store them like chestnuts for a long, cold winter.”

Her second assignment was for all Americans to support Scott Brown’s candidacy (twice linking to his website): “Donate. Right now!” A sense of urgency conveyed in brevity.

“The biggest current danger for Republicans,” Coulter correctly cautioned, is that Libertarians will jeopardize key elections by wasting their votes on Libertarian candidates who cannot win. As she put it, “When we’re all dying from lack of health care across the United States of Mexico, we’ll be deeply impressed with your integrity, libertarians.”[6]

Though not “priceless” like yesterday’s column, this one – despite its imperfections – is eminently commendable.

Endnotes:

[1]               Ann Coulter, “We’ll tell you how dangerous Ebola is after the election,” 10/15/14.

[2]               Ann Coulter, “Your ‘to do’ list to save America,” 9/17/14.

[3]               While I disagree with some of her conclusions, her presentation was excellent. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read, except for the elimination rhetoric in the very last phrase. (Some habits die hard.) (I would also have chosen words other than “insane” and “idiots,” though, perhaps I am getting too picky.) But for a nuts-and-bolts let’s-get-down-to-the-details election analysis, it was top notch, and, again, an enjoyable read. Consider it an unpolished diamond.

[4]               My dear readers, you are urged to read the entirety of her column. Her analysis of each race is informative and her writing style is very appealing, making what some might regard as a boring, inside-the-beltway subject actually interesting.

[5]               Here’s why, Ann. Coulter’s supreme reluctance to primary less conservative GOP candidates – which has caused a rift between Coulter and the Tea Party – stems from a somewhat flawed grasp of the dynamics involved. Ann seems to think that all Republicans will actually vote Republican (or conservative, which is not the same thing), when history shows that recent Republican congresses have raised taxes, increased spending, enacted new entitlement programs, and toyed with amnesty. We need more conservatives (not more Republicans) in office. Hence the need to challenge recalcitrant incumbents.

[6]               Another well-worded nugget, accurate in this instance. It is noteworthy that Ann criticizes Libertarians for holding on to their “integrity” in the face of defeat (and thus squandering their votes), just as she has in the past blamed electoral defeat on pro-lifers who were “too” pro-life (integrity, again) or Tea Party candidates for being too principled (again, integrity).