Giffords Contacted New IOP Director About Divisive Rhetoric

Updated at 4:45 p.m. 1/10/2011.

Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords asked newly-appointed Institute of Politics director C. M. Trey Grayson '94 for help in toning down heated political rhetoric hours before she was severely wounded in a shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six people and left a dozen others injured.

Giffords sent Grayson an e-mail on Friday to congratulate him on his appointment as director of the IOP, adding she wanted to discuss with him ways to calm political acrimony in her area.

"After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation. I am one of only 12 Dems left in a GOP district (the only woman) and think that we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down," Giffords wrote.

Although the alleged shooter’s motive remains unclear, Satuday’s shooting has led many to wonder whether vitriolic political rhetoric and exaggerated partisanship in American politics could have indirectly prompted the alleged shooter to target the congresswoman.

In an interview Monday, Grayson said he does not currently see a connection between Giffords’ e-mail, political partisanship, and the shooting.

He said he has frequently spoken to Giffords about their will to promote bipartisanship and moderation in politics.

"But even if there is no connection, I see this tragedy as an opportunity to improve the tone of our rhetoric," he said. "We need to be careful about how we pursue [politics]. There are consequences."

Both Grayson and Giffords ran against candidates affiliated with the populist Tea Party movement during their November campaigns. While Giffords, a Democrat, managed to hang on to her seat in the House of Representatives, Grayson lost his Republican Senate primary to Tea Party darling Rand Paul, who went on to win in the general election.

The Tea Party has been widely credited with Republican gains during the mid-term elections but have also been viewed as a source of increased polarization in American politics. Some commentators have speculated in the aftermath of the shooting that such polarization—and its concomitant aggressive rhetoric on both sides of the aisle—could have played a role in Saturday’s shooting.

“I can’t believe how poignant this is in light of what just happened,” Grayson said, referring to the congresswoman’s e-mail.

Giffords and Grayson have known each other since they met as part of the Aspen Institute’s Rodel Fellowship for young leaders in 2005 and have stayed in touch ever since. In her congratulatory e-mail to Grayson, Giffords wrote she would visit him at Harvard later this year.

"When I got the email, I was so ecstatic that she was interested in coming up," Grayson said. "I was trying to think of a way to get her involved with the IOP."

Giffords also wrote she thought Grayson’s new position was "a perfect fit" for him, adding she had never forgotten the moments she spent at the Kennedy School where she took part in a state and local leader’s program as a member of the Arizona Senate.

Saturday’s shooting took place during a political gathering outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona. Giffords was shot in the head but survived while others—including a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge—were killed.

The main suspect, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, has been charged with five federal counts and is expected to appear in court Monday.

–Staff writer Ariane Litalien can be reached at alitalien@college.harvard.edu.