In other words, the public saw right through the left's pathetic attempts to spin and connect the right with the act of Jared Lee Loughner when he shot and killed 6 people and injured 13 others.
The poll was conducted Jan. 11, three days after Jared Loughner allegedly shot and killed six people in Tucson, Ariz., and seriously injured numerous others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Some of the early news coverage of the shootings discussed whether the increasingly inflammatory language used in political debate today could have motivated the shooter to attack the Democratic member of Congress. That theory was put forth by the sheriff of Pima County, Ariz., who argued that conservative thought leaders like Sarah Palin use language that may encourage their supporters to commit acts of violence against their opponents.
Most Americans reject that theory, with 53% agreeing that commentators who allege conservative rhetoric was responsible were mostly attempting to use the tragedy to make conservatives look bad. Roughly one in three, 35%, say the commentators were making a legitimate point about how dangerous the language used by conservatives can be.
Though Americans doubt that the language used in political debate was a motivating factor in the shootings, they are inclined to believe all major U.S. political groups are going too far in using inflammatory language to criticize their opponents. In fact, Americans are about equally likely to say Democrats (51%) and Republicans (53%) are guilty of this. A similar percentage also believe this applies to supporters of the Tea Party movement.
Americans watch and listen and make up their own minds no matter how often the left attempts to mislead them.
As a side note since the left's attempt included a very strong push to mislead the public and pin blame on Sarah Palin for Loughner's acts, once she responded, it seems the public views her as more "sincere" and "believable" after seeing her response to those far left liberals attempts.
Can you say... BACKFIRE?
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