Right rejects left’s charges on Palin

Prominent conservatives like Bill Kristol, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are defending Sarah Palin, who was subjected to criticism from liberal bloggers after Saturday’s shootings in Arizona.

The bloggers suggested Palin’s use of inflammatory rhetoric during the 2010 campaign helped create a climate conducive to the type of violence that shook the nation over the weekend.

{mosads}Several sought to link Palin’s use of a crosshairs symbol on her website and Facebook page to the Tucson shooting that killed six people and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition.

Palin, the former governor of Alaska and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, issued a statement of condolence to the victims.

Her spokeswoman, Rebecca Mansour, defended the use of the symbol in an interview with conservative talk radio host Tammy Bruce.

Palin has refrained from making public comments on the controversy, perhaps aware of the political risk to her potential 2012 White House bid. She has instead allowed several conservatives to defend her.

Commentator Bill Kristol called the attacks on palin “McCarthyism.”

“The attempt to exploit this tragedy is distasteful,” Kristol said during an appearance on C-SPAN Monday.

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh used his radio program to blame the left and the media for stoking anger at Palin. He called suggestions that the current state of political discourse on the right had anything to do with the shooting “pure politics.”

“It’s fatuous and silly to even verify and justify these accusations by defending them,” Limbaugh said Monday. “The premise is insane; it’s silly; it’s beneath these people. Or is it? It is who they are.”

On his radio show Monday, Glenn Beck relayed an e-mail exchange he had with Palin over the shooting. Beck said he was concerned with Palin’s safety and advised her to arrange for tighter security at her own events. 

According to Beck, Palin responded: “I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this.” 

During the midterm campaign, Palin’s political action committee and Facebook page used the crosshairs symbol to spotlight 20 vulnerable Democrats who voted for healthcare reform and held districts won by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential race. Among Palin’s targets was Arizona’s 8th district, held by Giffords. 

“Violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate,” wrote liberal columnist Paul Krugman in a New York Times blog post that linked to Palin’s map. “And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.” 

Daily Kos founder (and columnist for The Hill) Markos Moulitsas tweeted Saturday: “Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin.” The tweet also included a link to Palin’s target map. 

But words like “target” and “crosshairs” are commonly used by both sides of the aisle during the heated campaign season. 

Conservatives pointed to a map the Democratic Leadership Council posted on its website in December 2004, which also used crosshair symbols to highlight Republican election targets. 

They also noted similar rhetoric from President Obama. 

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-Sen. Obama said of his Republican opposition: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”

But the debate over political rhetoric has added significance for Palin, given her need to make inroads among independent voters and her lagging favorability relative to other potential 2012 contenders. 

She hasn’t been helped by her pro-gun image and the fact that the news networks have repeatedly played a clip of Giffords reacting to Palin’s crosshairs map. 

“When people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action,” Giffords said at the time.

Even before this past weekend, Republicans and conservatives had begun questioning Palin’s ability to compete against Obama in a general-election contest. 

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, wrote in a November op-ed that Palin “cannot be elected.” 

And conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer told Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly in December that Palin has a deficit to overcome with independents. He noted that her performance in a 2008 interview with CBS’s Katie Couric “damaged her in the eyes of even non-ideological people.” 

Bob Cusack contributed to this article.