Stadium opened after arena fills for Obama speech
TUCSON, Ariz. -- The University of Arizona has opened its football stadium after it became clear that the 14,000-seat arena would not be big enough to hold everyone wanting to see President Barack Obama's speech about the mass shooting.
Those at the stadium were watching the memorial service on the scoreboard.
The crowd in the main venue warmed up with a number of live performances, though "Amazing Grace" was almost drowned out by cheers as the surgeons treating the victims of the massacre were escorted to their seats.
Spectators also roared when Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik was shown on the large screen. Dupnik drew praise and criticism after he blamed the rampage in part on extreme political rhetoric, bigotry and hatred.
Obama's Arizona Speech: A Low Bar to Clear
What a horrible story this Arizona shooting story is.
Every day new details emerge that threaten to turn us all into the John Boehners of our offices, misting up over our Twitter feeds. Nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green will be buried in a special coffin built and blessed by Trappist monks from Peosta, Iowa. Dorwan Stoddard, who was murdered, was the elementary school sweetheart of his wife, Mavy; they reunited after their life-long spouses died. Jared Lee Loughner's father chased him into the desert the morning of the shooting, and then the 22-year-old was pulled over by "a wildlife officer" for running a red light just hours before going on the rampage that killed six and wounded 14. Daniel Hernandez is awesome, a model of youthful composure.
The Tea Party Express is raising money off the tragedy and full of outrage about liberals. Tea Party Nation blames the shooting on liberals, calling Loughner a "leftist lunatic." Sarah Palin makes the story all about her, issuing a video -- with the comment function turned off, natch -- to defend free speech, in which she also accuses her critics of "blood libel." Jewish groups are outraged, and the Nathan Diamant, public policy director of the Orthodox Union of Jewish Congregations of America, says Palin's "response keeps our political and civic discourse in the gutter."
Four Arizona Republicans resigned local party positions out of fear for their lives after the shooting. The Tucson Tea Party leader says threats have made him afraid to go to the Obama speech tonight.
Most of the country does not believe politics were a major factor in the shooting, and a USA Today/Gallup poll reports that 53 percent agree "that commentators who allege conservative rhetoric was responsible were mostly attempting to use the tragedy to make conservatives look bad."
This is a horrible story, sparked by a horrible person who did a horrible thing, and provoking horrible and honorable people alike into saying horrible things.
As Obama gets ready to address the nation, one thing is clear.
The bar for delivering a unifying and healing speech this evening could not be lower.
President Obama’s speech to remember victims, soothe nation
TUCSON — President Barack Obama said Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time since she was shot in the head Saturday.
The president made his remarks as he addressed thousands of Arizonans and the rest of the nation Wednesday night at a memorial for the victims of a bloody shooting rampage that critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed a federal judge and five other people.
The president visited Giffords in her hospital room in the afternoon before proceeding to the University of Arizona’s McKale Memorial Center, where an overflow crowd of more than 14,000 people waited.
Obama “will devote a significant portion of his remarks to the memory of the victims,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “He’ll also reflect on how all of us might best honor their memory in our own lives.”
The service started at 6 p.m., with remarks by Gov. Jan Brewer, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder before Obama. The president is expected to speak for a little under 20 minutes. He will leave Arizona later Wednesday evening.
Most of Arizona’s congressional delegation are in attendance, including Sen. Jon Kyl and Sen. John McCain, who met with family members of the victims before the service began. Giffords’ husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, is seated between Napolitano and Michelle Obama.
Intern Daniel Hernandez, who is credited with aiding Giffords quickly and helping to save her life, is sitting between President Obama and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Five delegation members flew to Arizona aboard Air Force One: Reps. Paul Gosar, Trent Franks, Ben Quayle, David Schweikert and Jeff Flake, all Republicans. Rep. Ral Grijalva, D-Ariz., greeted the president at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, along with the governor and Tucson Mayor Robert Walkup and Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
After arriving at the base, the president went straight to University Medical Center, where Giffords and six other victims are being treated for their injuries. He spent about nine minutes with Giffords and her husband in the intensive care unit of the hospital.
The president also planned to meet families of the victims at McKale Center before the memorial begins.
The event has electrified the UA campus and drawn spectators from around Tucson and other parts of Arizona. People began lining at up at McKale Memorial Center Tuesday night and by early afternoon Wednesday, UA officials said the number of people in line exceeded the capacity of the 14,000-seat arena.
Overflow crowds were sent to Arizona Stadium, where the speeches will be shown on giant video screens. The service will also be broadcast on local and national television outlets and on several radio stations.
Tom Ratliff, 22, of Tucson was standing outside the hospital watching the presidential motorcade, which has 38 motorcycles including numerous other vehicles. The president’s car passed directly in front of Ratliff, who snapped a photograph and shouted: “That is so cool.”
Jim Pofel, 41, said he is a Republican and a general contractor in Tucson: “This isn’t a Republican or Democrat thing. I’m as upset as anyone else about what happened. I’m here to show my support.”
Mai-Ling Lem, 34, a Tucson mother of five, was first in line at the arena and said she wanted her two children, ages 16 and 11, to see the president.
“I’m proud to be a Tucsonan,” Lem says. “One person does not define my city.”
In Washington, members of Congress paid tribute to Giffords and the other victims as the House of Representatives prepared to pass a memorial resolution. Lawmakers had been scheduled to vote this week on repeal of Obama’s health care laws, but postponed any action in the wake of the shooting.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., whose husband was killed and son seriously wounded in the 1993 shooting on the Long Island railroad, said of the rampage, “It’s so parallel, it’s scary.”
“I say to all of you, time will heal you,” McCarthy said on the House floor. She added that Giffords would be proud of the members of the House. “She has brought this chamber together. It’s just a shame that a tragedy had to bring us together.”
One political expert said the stakes for the Obama speech are high, characterizing the aftermath of Saturday’s chilling assassination attempt on Giffords as “a crisis moment” when Americans are looking to the president for leadership. Past presidents have similarly stepped up in times of national tragedy, like President Bill Clinton did after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and President George W. Bush did after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
“This is an opportunity for the president to heal some wounds, to send a message of cooperation and peace and really extend the olive branch to all sides,” said Fred Solop, chairman of Northern Arizona University’s politics and international-affairs department. “This is an opportunity to define the next two years of the Obama presidency. He came off the election in a more weakened position and on the defensive. This is an opportunity to reach for the higher ground and to elevate the conversation that is taking place in Washington.”
A White House official told The Republic that Obama will devote most of his remarks to memorializing the victims. Holder, Napolitano and Gov. Jan Brewer also will speak during what is expected to be an hourlong event.
“It’s a case where the best politics is no politics,” said John J. “Jack” Pitney Jr., a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. “The best approach for him would be not to say anything that sounds political or sounds critical of any political faction. If he can deliver a message of unity, compassion and resolve, then that’s a good thing.”
The “Together We Thrive: Tucson and America” program will come hours after the House vote on the resolution honoring the victims of the mass shooting at a Safeway near Tucson. The six dead included U.S. District Judge John Roll and Gabe Zimmerman, Giffords’ outreach director. Thirteen people, including Giffords, were wounded in the attack.
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., managed floor debate on the resolution for the majority House Republicans. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., managed the debate for the House Democrats. After the action, Flake and other members of Arizona’s House delegation plan to fly to Tucson with the president on Air Force One. Arizona’s Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl and GOP Gov. Jan Brewer also are expected to attend the Tucson memorial. McCain shortened an official trip to South America to return to Arizona.
It’s unclear whether Brewer and Obama will meet or speak privately before the event. The two spoke Saturday by phone, just hours after the rampage. In contrast to their previous conversations and meetings, Brewer described Saturday’s phone call as one of kindness. In the past, Brewer and Obama have disagreed on a host of politically charged issues, including immigration, border security and the federal government’s health-care reform plan.
“He was very, very gracious,” Brewer said. “It was totally nonpartisan.”
The trip marks Obama’s fourth visit to Arizona since becoming president and his first since August 2009. Arizona, which was carried by home-state candidate McCain in the 2008 election, once was seen as a possible 2012 pickup for Obama. However, the Obama administration and Arizona Republican leaders spent much of 2010 at odds. The Justice Department sued to block Arizona’s controversial immigration-enforcement law, Senate Bill 1070, from going into effect.
Pitney doubted that Obama’s visit today will do much to reset his administration’s relationship with its Arizona critics.
“I don’t think this necessarily connects with partisan politics at all,” Pitney said.
