Rep. Giffords' condition improves after shooting

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and doctors on Tuesday were hopeful 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 still in critical condition at a Tucson hospital but is "holding her own," responding to simple commands and breathing without the aid of her ventilation tube, her doctor said.

"She has no right to look this good. We're hopeful," Dr. Michael Lemole, head of neurosurgery at the University Medical Center, 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 fueled debate about whether the heated rhetoric featured in recent U.S. political campaigns can lead to violence.

Loughner's family released a short statement, with no mention of the gunman, expressing sorrow for the rampage.

"We don't understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday," the family statement said. "We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss."

A neighbor earlier told local media that Loughner's parents Amy and Randy were devastated.

"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?" neighbor Wayne Smith, with tears in his eyes, told Phoenix's News Channel Three.

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 contributed to 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 cautioned that 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," he told BBC News. "Anything any of us says falls on the unhinged and the hinged alike, and we just have to be sensitive to it."

Lawmakers in both political parties have called 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 at the hospital for gunshot wounds. A spokesman said three remain in serious condition, and two in fair condition.

Loughner is accused of opening fire with a semi-automatic Glock pistol while the congresswoman greeted constituents in a supermarket parking lot.

"In a minute, he took away six loved ones, and took away our sense of well-being," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a speech in Tucson. "There is no way to measure what Tucson and all of Arizona lost in that moment."

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Jerry Norton, Tim Gaynor, Peter Henderson; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Jackie Frank and Cynthia Osterman)