Meghan McCain on Rachel Maddow

Politics aside, I'm watching Meghan McCain on The Rachel Maddow Show right now and finding myself very charmed. She seems smart, rational, diplomatic, put together and willing to stand by her political views, even if they're not completely on-track with the [old/white/conservative/male] Republican baseline. If more Republicans were like her (although, she is a former Independent), perhaps I wouldn't have so much disdain for the GOP as a whole.

Admittedly, I don't know that much about her, but I liked what she had to say about Ann Coulter over on The Daily Beast on Monday (which I have generously from quoted below, though you should of course go read the whole article on their site):

To make matters worse, certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.
[...]
Coulter could be the poster woman for the most extreme side of the Republican Party. And in some ways I could be the poster woman for the opposite. 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?
[...]
I’m often criticized for not being a “real” Republican, and I have been called a RINO—Republican In Name Only—in the past. Many say I am not “conservative enough,” which is something that I am proud of. It is no secret that I disagree with many of the old-school Republican ways of thinking. One of the biggest issues from which I seem to drift from the party base is in my support of gay marriage. I am often criticized for previously voting for John Kerry and my support of stem-cell research. For the record, I am also extremely pro-military and a big supporter of the surge and the Iraq war.

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. I don’t believe in scare tactics and would never condone or encourage anyone calling President Obama a Muslim. But controversy sells and Coulter is nothing if not controversial.
[...]
I am sure most extreme conservatives and extreme liberals would find me a confusing, walking contradiction. But I assure you, there are many people out there just like me who represent a new, younger generation of Republicans. [...]Where has our extreme thinking gotten us?