Like most people we at VoteGlobal were shocked to hear of this assination attempt. The whole reason we champion democracy is because we believe universal democracy can make the world a more peaceful place and in a well functioning democracy a myriad of competing and hotly held views can be reconciled without this type of violence. As Obama said “…this is more than a tragedy for those involved. It is a tragedy for Arizona and a tragedy for our entire country” In fact it is an attack on the democratic process itself.
In response to the tragedy we have created two new polls. The first is entitled “Will Palin suffer serious political damage from the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords?”
In the 2010 mid-term elections Sarah Palin released a map of House Democrats “targeted” by Palin. Gabrielle Giffords appeared on the map. The map controversially used actual target markers on locations these Democrats lived and listed their names. Within a few hours of loading the poll it had received some 500 votes making it the hottest poll since our “Israel Raid on Gaza Flotilla” poll
Sarah Palin posted a statement to her Facebook page offering condolences to the Giffords and all affected.
The second new poll is entitled “Will the shooting in Arizona change the tone of politics in America for years to come?”
The shooting has also caused renewed interest in an older poll “Is the right to bear arms – open carried other otherwise – still applicable in the U.S. Should there be more stringent laws regulating firearms ownership and sales?”
It will also be interesting to track what effect this has on the polls “Do you support Sarah Palin as GOP nominee for Presidential candidate in 2012?” and “2012 Election, your GOP choice?”
