Jonathan Bernstein hopes that the Gifford shooting won't stop politicians from going "about their lives as ordinary citizens, meeting with their fellow citizens and neighbors not just in great democratic events like the one interrupted in Tuscon, but in casual encounters, too." Ezra Klein nods:
There's going to be a desire to do something in the coming days, to respond somehow. And we need to take care to make sure our response pushes us in the right direction. A simple principle, I think, is that whatever we do should emphasize our commitment to the sort of everyday democracy that Rep. Giffords and her constituents were practicing. As I said yesterday, I think one way to pay tribute to those who died or were harmed in the shooting is to do as they did and attend your congressperson's next community meeting. Conversely, making community meetings more difficult and politicians more physically distant from their constituents would be giving something important away, and it's not clear that we'd gain any real safety or security in return.