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Palin's presidential ambitions damaged by Arizona shooting

A backlash against Sarah Palin due to her “crosshairs map” – that identified congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords using a target sign – has damaged the former governor’s presidential hopes.

SARAH PALIN MAY have lost her bid for the presidency before it had even begun, as anger grows in the wake of last Saturday’s shooting spree in Arizona in which six people were killed and US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head.

The former governor has faced scathing criticism from both the left and right-wing commentators for publishing her now-infamous “target map”, entitled “It’s time to take a stand”, which identified 20 Democrats that had voted in favour of Obama’s health care reform bill. All of the politicians included on the map were identified by use of a crosshairs symbol.

Last year, Palin tweeted her followers on Twitter with the words: “Don’t retreat, instead- RELOAD! – and directed them to her Facebook page where the target map was displayed.

Shortly afterwards, the window of Giffords’ constituency office in Tuscon was smashed in.

[caption id="attachment_67049" align="alignnone" width="257" caption="Sarah Palin’s “target map. Image: via auwebmanager/Twitter"][/caption]

Giffords spoke about the vandalism to msnbc in an interview that has been replayed by countless channels in the aftermath of the tragedy. She said:

We’re on Sarah Palin’s target list… The way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. When people do that, they’ve got to realise that there are consequences to that action.

The Guardian reports that support for Palin’s presidential ambitions plummeted in the fallout of the shooting, with many condemning her violent rhetoric; according to the politically neutral online trade/betting exchange her support dropped from around 75 per cent to around 60 per cent.

Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia, told the Guardian that Palin would be walking wounded into any presidential race: “I do not think other Republican candidates will use it against her. They do not have to because there will be so much commentary. She has identified herself with the most strident elements of the party,” he said.

However, even as the backlash grows, some are saying that Palin could use the situation to prove herself as a serious political player. ”It’s absurd to point fingers at Palin, and people who are doing that are just as guilty of politicising this tragedy as anyone else,” said Todd Harris, a Republican strategist, to the Washington Post.

“I think the public looks to its leaders and pretty quickly decides who has something to teach and who has something to learn. I think that Palin is missing an opportunity to show that she can be a leader at a higher level than she’s been viewed before.”

Six people were killed on Saturday after a gunman shot Giffords in the head at point blank range as she spoke at a constituency event in Tuscon. A federal court judge was among the victims, as was an aide to the congresswoman. Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was the youngest victim.

Giffords remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

The suspect, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, appeared in court this morning.

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    Mute Ailís McKernan
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    May 27th 2014, 8:25 AM

    I wish Sinn féin could have fielded more candidates, such a great result. I am so fed up with status quo. The interchangeable government, not the band. Never the band.

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    Mute Loremolis
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    May 27th 2014, 8:46 AM

    I like the slow counting. It took a few hours for Labour to realise how badly they had done. A slow painful realisation was better than a quick slap.

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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    May 27th 2014, 8:12 AM

    We must find a better way of counting, it’s a joke that we still waiting for results 4 days later.

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    Mute johngahan
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    May 27th 2014, 8:38 AM

    e-voting. Martin Cullen of FF was before his time.

    Everyone gets something similar to a lotto ticket with the old fashioned version of the polling ticket on the back.

    Run them through the machines and have the count and transfers done in a few hours. Then do a random nationwide sample to detect if any parties are up to their old tricks.

    Far too complicated for the yokels though.

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    Mute Keith Gregg
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    May 27th 2014, 11:49 AM

    I used those dreadful e-voting machines. They wouldn’t let you spoil the vote and there was no paper trail to ensure hey were accurate

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    Mute Lorcan O' Reilly
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    May 27th 2014, 8:12 AM

    Anyone else fed up with the elections? I can’t wait till all these seats are filled and we can read other news!!

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    Mute Lorcan O' Reilly
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    May 27th 2014, 8:03 AM

    Anyone else so fed up hearing about the elections? I can’t wait till these seats are filled and we can read different news!!

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    Mute robert purfield
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    May 27th 2014, 8:57 AM

    No one is forcing you to open the election related articles to read!

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    Mute Lorcan O' Reilly
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    May 27th 2014, 9:36 AM

    Understand I’m not forced to read it but it’s just a little over done. And I just asked a question.

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