Tea Party and the Tucson Shootings

Tea Party Leaders were quick to condemn the shootings and just as quick to send out the message that they would not accept any level of blame for the tragedy. This response did not sit well with those who cited clashes between Giffords, a moderate Democrat, and members of the Tea Party. In the 2010 Congressional race, Giffords and Jesse Kelly, a candidate endorsed by the Tea Party, ran a tight and intense race. An advertisement for an event sponsored by Jesse Kelly read' ''Get on target for victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.'' In another Tea Party related incident, Sarah Palin placed Giffords on her ''target map'', which made use of gun crosshairs to mark targets and their districts that the Tea Party would like to remove in an effort to clear the way for right wing candidates. Some also pointed the finger of blame at Sharon Angle, a Republican Senate candidate in Nevada. Angle suggested the use of ''second amendment remedies'' to alleviate certain issues in the United States. And of course, there is Gifford's support of the healthcare overhaul, which has been an ongoing issue of contention between Democrats and Republicans. Giffords also received the Tea Party's disapproval for criticizing Arizona's stance on illegal immigrants.

While it is argued by some that the Tea Party needs to be held accountable for its words and the reactions those words provoke, others argue that the Tea Party is being pulled into a political blame-game. Trent Humphries, co-founder of Tucson's Tea Party, suggests that the Tea Party is yet another innocent victim of the tragic events that occurred in Tucson.