Strange bedfellows: Laughing Hillary Clinton 'happy' Coulter may back her  "Strange bedfellows," indeed.
On Sunday's edition of ABC's This Week, George Stephanopoulos asked Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) how she felt about possibly having the support of controversial conservative pundit Ann Coulter.
A few days ago, as RAW STORY reported, Coulter told Fox's Sean Hannity that if Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is the Republican nominee, she's supporting Hillary Clinton.
"If he's our candidate, then Hillary's going to be our girl," Coulter asserted. "Because she's more conservative than he is. I think she would be stronger on the war on terrorism. ... I absolutely believe that. ... I will campaign for her if it's McCain."
Conservative bloggers in general reacted to Coulter's remarks by calling her an "idiot" or a "lunatic." However, one commenter at a conservative blog may have been more perceptive in offering the suggestion that "it is possible that Coulter said this to cause trouble for Hillary."
After Stephanopoulos mentioned the "endorsement" Sunday morning, a broad smile struck Clinton's face, accompanied by a fit of cough-inducing laughter.
"Well, this will be an interesting election all the way through, George," Clinton chuckled, "you never know, strange bedfellows and all of that."
Clinton then turned serious, saying that she believed it would be a "tremendous contest between Senator McCain and myself," and suggested that she would be best suited to challenge him in November, especially on the issue of security.
Clinton added, "At some point, I'm happy to have any voters. Although, this one took me somewhat by surprise."
The former first lady may be channeling the Machiavellian theory on "keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer."
Nearly a year ago, Coulter got into hot water when she implied that a former Democratic presidential candidate was gay in a speech at the 34th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). "I was going to have a few comments about John Edwards but you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,'" she said.
That wasn't the first time that Coulter has "gay-baited" a Democrat. Coulter used the "other f-word" in a joking reference to Gore in a television interview a year and a half ago, and on various occasions has claimed that Bill Clinton could be a "latent homosexual."
"I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality," Coulter said of Clinton on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC. During a Hardball interview with Chris Matthews, Coulter also said of Clinton, "I don’t know if he’s gay. But Al Gore — total fag."
It's doubtful that any even semi-serious presidential candidate would issue press releases upon receiving Coulter's backing. Along with her penchant for saying outrageous things (such as "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women."), Coulter also once faced multiple probes over her own vote.
According to investigative blogger Brad Friedman, Coulter "knowingly lied about her address on her voter registration form in Palm Beach County, Florida; proceeded to break the law again by knowingly voting at the wrong precinct; then lied about it repeatedly; hired a former Bush attorney to protect her ass; and even called in her FBI ex-boyfriend to save her bacon when it looked like the Palm Beach County Sheriff might actually have the balls to bring charges."
But the Palm Beach Post's Jose Lambiet reported two months ago that because the state's two-year statute of limitations had already expired, the Florida Elections Commission ruled that Coulter hadn't broken any election laws.
"Coulter's voting also has been investigated, so far, by Palm Beach Police, the PBC Supervisor of Elections and the sheriff's office — and all declined to file charges," Lambiet added.
After the 2006 midterm elections, Lambiet also reported that Coulter had failed to vote in the primaries and general election, "contributing further to the demise of the GOP in Congress."
Even still, Coulter appears frequently on Fox News Channel to expound on campaign politics, and probably will be seen on the other major networks (and teh net) throughout the long season to come.
This video is from ABC's This Week, broadcast February 3, 2008.
 
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