By Brad Poole
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and doctors were hopeful on Tuesday about her recovery from a head wound suffered in an Arizona shooting spree that killed six people.
Giffords, a popular 40-year-old Democrat, is in critical condition at a Tucson hospital but is "holding her own," responding to simple commands and breathing without aid of her ventilation tube, doctors said.
"She has no right to look this good. We're hopeful," Dr. Michael Lemole, head of neurosurgery at the University Medical Centre in Tucson, said of her recovery from a bullet that passed through her brain.
"It's week to week, month to month," he said. "She's going to take her recovery at her own pace."
Lemole said Giffords was still being ventilated through a breathing tube to protect her airway and prevent complications like pneumonia.
The suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, is being held pending a January 24 preliminary hearing on five federal charges, including the attempted assassination of Giffords.
The bloody rampage -- at an event Giffords hosted for constituents -- has fuelled debate about whether the heated rhetoric featured in recent U.S. political campaigns can lead to violence.
President Barack Obama plans to go to Arizona on Wednesday to attend a memorial service for the dead, who included a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl and one of Giffords' young aides.
A CBS News poll released on Tuesday found a majority of Americans reject the view that inflamed political rhetoric was a factor in the weekend shootings in Arizona.
The poll found 57 percent of respondents said the harsh political tone had nothing to do with the shooting, while 32 percent felt it did. The rejection of a link was strongest among Republicans, with 69 percent feeling harsh rhetoric was not related to the attack.
CALLS FOR CIVILITY
While the motive for the Saturday attack was not apparent, politicians and commentators have said a climate in which strong language and ideological polarization is common may have contributed.
Former President Bill Clinton told BBC News it was wrong to suggest anyone was encouraging violence, but cautioned public officials should be careful about their language.
"We cannot be unaware of the fact that, particularly with the Internet, there's this huge echo-chamber out there, and anything any of us says falls on the unhinged and the hinged alike, and we just have to be sensitive to it," he said.
Lawmakers in both political parties have spoken out on the need for greater civility in politics, and on Wednesday members of Congress will come together in a bipartisan prayer service.
Giffords's colleagues in Congress have put most of their work on hold after the shootings, which prompted many of them to reassess their own security and even their way of life.
The Republican-led House of Representatives has postponed a vote to repeal Obama's controversial overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, which Giffords and other Democrats backed.
In Washington, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the shooting rampage showed the danger of threats against public officials.
"Without question, threats against public officials -- whatever form they take -- continue to be cause for concern and vigilance," Holder said. "But I do not believe that these threats are as strong as the forces working for tolerance and peace."
Giffords is one of six people being treated for gunshot wounds at the hospital. A spokesman said three remain in serious condition, and two in fair condition.
Loughner's parents, Amy and Randy, are devastated by the incident and plan to release a statement, a neighbour told local media on Tuesday.
"Their son is not Amy and Randy, and people need to understand that. They're devastated. Wouldn't you be if it was your child?" neighbour Wayne Smith, with tears in his eyes, told Phoenix's News Channel Three.
"They're hurting bad, she's really bad ... it's a sad thing, and he told me to tell you guys that when he gets to where he can, he will make a statement himself," he added.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Jerry Norton, Tim Gaynor, Peter Henderson; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jackie Frank)
