Tales from the Trail

Most Americans see no relation between the attempted assassination of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the political tactic of lacing vitriolic rhetoric with firearms analogies.

That’s the conclusion of a CBS News poll that found most Republicans (69 pct), most independents (56 pct) and even a plurality of Democrats (49 pct) believe the two phenomena unrelated.

Those numbers add up to 57 percent of Americans overall — a true majority though not quite big enough to break a Senate filibuster.

The survey, which has a 4 percentage point margin of error, did not ask whether graphic images of rifle cross-hairs, references to finding a Second Amendment solution to congressional reform and similar ballistic gimmickry should continue in force or get booted (not fired) from political marketing departments in the interests of public safety.

Giffords’ accused assailant, Jared Loughner, is described as a mentally disturbed loner who used a semi-automatic pistol with an extended ammunition clip to kill six people and wound 14 others on a sunny Saturday in Arizona. He was subdued only when he stopped to reload.

The White House (whether its occupant is Obama or Bush) has a tendency to be dismissive of public opinion polls, shrugging them aside as inconsequential to the president’s decision-making and basically to be brushed off like dandruff on a shoulder.

That is unless the polls are going their way.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, amid the glee of the healthcare bill signing Tuesday, tweeted @PressSec “In the polling obsessed town of Washington, DC this will give the nattering nabobs of negativity something to chew on” with a link to a story about the USA Today/Gallup poll that said 49 percent vs. 40 percent saw passage of  the bill as “a good thing.”

But while early post-healthcare polling data show a bump in President Barack Obama’s favorability ratings, it remains to be seen whether there’s a trend in the making.