Much of the discussion of the pre-shootings political tone has been about the map that was used on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Facebook page to target Congressional districts in the 2010 elections. One of those districts was Arizona 8, the district of Gabrielle Giffords, the Congresswoman shot in Tucson.
The map, which used marks that some saw as gun cross-hairs (but others said were surveyor marks) was criticized for what could be taken as a call to violence. Most Americans were willing to say that the map at least hinted at violence, although only 12% said it was a call to violence. 42% (including 72% of Republicans) described the map as not violent at all.
Most Americans --- whatever their party --- had not seen the map before it was shown to them in the Economist/YouGov Poll. And all groups (including a majority of Republicans) agreed on what the symbols meant: 67% said they were gun cross-hairs, while only 19% said they were surveyor marks.
As for the former Alaska governor, Americans still hold a negative view of her. 37% are favorable, 55% are not.
