The political leanings of Jared Loughner, the accused shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and 19 others, is "the subject of a white-hot partisan debate," says Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post. Democrats paint him as "an anti-government, Tea Party conservative;" Republicans say his reading list suggests he's a "left-wing wacko." His voter registration doesn't help: He's an independent who didn't vote in the 2010 election. So is Loughner "to the left of Ralph Nader or to the right of Rush Limbaugh," or somewhere else entirely? (Watch Loughner's classmates speak out)
Loughner is clearly a leftist: Conservative? I don't think so, says Lisa Morris in Blogger News Network. Loughner's list of favorite books include's Hitler's Mein Kampf and Marx's Communist Manifesto, he apparently likes flag burning, and a good high school friend, Caitie Parker, describes him as "left wing," "quite liberal," and a "political radical." Sounds like "he was influenced by socialists."
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