Gabby Giffords ‘Would Like’ to Run for Congress, Mark Kelly Says He Won’t
EmailCongresswoman Gabby Giffords is focused on getting better right now, but is still considering a run for Congress in 2012, according to her husband Mark Kelly. However, if her injury prevents a reelection bid, Kelly said he doesn’t want to take her place.
“I don’t think so,” Space Shuttle Commander Kelly said, when I asked if he would run for the Arizona seat.
“No. I want her to get better. And my job is to make sure that she can recover so she can go back to her career serving her constituents in southern Arizona. So I’m working everyday towards that goal,” he said on “GMA.”
Kelly said his wife “would like to run” in 2012, but hasn’t made a decision yet.
“She has some time and you know she has to do this on her own schedule and decide in her own way,” he said.
While Giffords recovers from a gunshot wound to the head, her staff and supporters are already laying the groundwork for a reelection bid. Kelly told his wife that she’ll know when it’s right for her to make that decision.
“She’ll know. She’ll know. I mean, she’s getting there. You know it all looks really positive. So we’re excited about that,” he said.
“She spends every day in rehab, eight hours a day and so we’ve got to proceed like she is going to take this step and run this next term,” Kelly told me.
Since the January shooting, Giffords has made one appearance on the House floor to cast her vote to raise the debt ceiling. And Kelly said his wife could return again in December to vote on the Super Committee’s plan.
“She pays attention to what’s going on. She reads the New York Times and the Arizona papers every day. And if we got into that kind of a situation, she’ll make the decision. I wouldn’t rule that out,” he said.
I spoke to Kelly the morning after Diane Sawyer’s interview, “Gabby and Mark: Courage and Hope,” aired. Kelly talked to his wife after she watched the special and said “she loved it.”
“She had a smile on her face the whole time. She really enjoyed it,” he said.
In their book, “Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope,” out today, they write that Gabby’s recovery is in the top 1 percent for these types of injuries. Kelly said his wife has continued to make improvement, now speaking in full sentences. The next milestone will be paragraphs.
“Being able to say a complete sentence followed by another one. And we didn’t’ see that so much on the tape last night, but in the last month that’s starting to kick in some more and she continues to improve,” he said.
Watch my interview here:
–George Stephanopoulos
Best Commencement Speeches of 2012 
Joe Biden Recalls Death of Wife, Daughter
Applause and cheers for Gabby. Boo’s and jeers for Diane Sawyer who couldn’t waste the opportunity to bash Palin and the Tea Party with implications that they are somehow responsible for what happened. The democrats and liberals have been much more harsh in their rhetoric and attacks towards conservatives and republicans. I don’t remember a peep from Diane Sawyer about it. Also, if you had to put the shooter/murderer into a category based on what he read and what was found in his dwelling place, he resembles a far left liberal radical.
Posted by: commonlogic | November 15, 2011, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
Hey. Why not? Need more babbling idiots in Congress
Posted by: stan | November 15, 2011, 2:35 pm 2:35 pm
I relate a LOT to Gabby Giffords. I understand her determination. I’ve dealt with an Encephalitis since 2007 and only a couple friends pay attention or ask me about my head. I’ve pushed myself, as Gabby is doing. I relate to the determination there & send her my hi-five!
Posted by: Robert Stone | November 15, 2011, 7:22 pm 7:22 pm
God has blessed Gabby Giffords. She has had a bullet go through her brain, yet she is able to talk and walk. From what I’ve seen, her therapists are top notch, even a guitarist to help her recover. They said she has two hours of therapy a day and surly has worked hard towards her recovery. They should thank God for his grace and mercy for they have the money to be blessed with such caring therapists and to be able to have therapy two hours a day. My father had a stroke, he can’t walk, can move himself in bed, has to be Hoyer lifted in and out of bed, wears diapers etc etc etc. His healthcare is Medicare, so needless to say, no guitars in therapy, lucky if a therapist would give the full hour for the day for the 3x a week he would get it. It’s amazing what a difference money makes – and don’t get me wrong, my parents aren’t poor, but certainly not able to afford the type of care Gabby gets, and what a difference it makes. You want Obama care? Take a look at Medicare and see what a great job the government is doing there. If we the citizens of the United States need to have Obama Care, then the same should go for congress, the media and rich people… no exceptions. Dare you to put this on the air…
Posted by: DC | November 15, 2011, 7:22 pm 7:22 pm
I can’t believe how ABC News is such a cheerleader on Giffords’ behalf. Yes, she was a victim of a horrible act. But she cannot do the job of a representative in the US Congress. There is no private company in the world that would pay her full salary for full rehab. They would pay her disability, perhaps her health insurance, but ask her to step aside so someone else who could do the job would actually do the job. That might seem heartless, but this is the real world. Oh, I forget, why should ABC News or Congress have anything to do with the real world.
Posted by: GetReal | November 15, 2011, 7:36 pm 7:36 pm
I think the comments here are reprehensible.
Giffords deserves praise for the work she did, and for the work she has done to get back to normal.
I pray she does run for congress again. She’s an inspiration to this country, the true American spirit of Determination, Strength of Spirit, and a true Patriot.
If only more in congress and the senate were like her, our country would not be in the shape it’s in.
Posted by: Michael | November 15, 2011, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
There is no reason why Gabby should not remain in Congress if she wants to. What is wrong with a person who has a disability being in public office? No, she may not be able to debate, but she will continue to develop her self expression and to have had massive damage to her Broca’s area it is surprising she can talk at all. But the important thing is her MIND. Even when she was barely able to move she demonstrated that she understood what was going on. The bullet did not damage her intelligence. Many politicians cannot speak well without a script. Look at Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. On the good side of Congress, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia has improved but used to talk like he had a mouth full of cotton balls and he has been in Congress for at least 20 years now.
Besides, there is assistive technology available for Gabby if she needs to give a speech. There are computers that talk and can be pre-programmed for certain commonly used phrases that could assist her and she can write her speeches out in full if she needs to. She is not there yet, but I will bet she will be by the time she has to declare. I would not put anything past her. The important thing is that her mind is there. She has language. It is speech that is a problem. America should be past the day when a disability, even a severe one prevents a person from doing what he or she wants to do.
Posted by: pigbestdog | November 15, 2011, 9:35 pm 9:35 pm
Why not let her run for congress.. She will get her full pay the rest of her life anyway. Might as well get some work out of her for it. Maybe I sound unremorseful, but I think that all of Congress should be on the same level as the rest of us. Stop making them a special catagory of people here in America. We are all supposed to be equal, but Congress sets itself aside in every catagory. That includes health care, retirement, and even some of the laws that apply to us, but not to them. May as well have stayed with England, and have a house of Lords and parlament. That is the way that they act!!!
Posted by: Idntv | November 15, 2011, 11:08 pm 11:08 pm
My wife has aphasia also, so I’m aware of the many roadblocks that interfere with self-expression. While there is no impairment to her understanding, on occasion she knows exactly what she wants to say, but is at times unable to speak, and forget about writing. I mention this as I’m certain that Gabby has the same problem and would require someone close to her to act as interpreter, as that is a requirement. Having said this, I think that she ought to run and let the citizens that she represents decide if she is capable. I’m sure that she would understand if they decided against her.
A woman with her verve and intellect would still find plenty to do for herself as well as for others.
Posted by: john locke | November 16, 2011, 12:33 am 12:33 am
I think it is up to Gabby’s congressional district if she is to continue as their representative in Congress. They will vote to keep her or retire her as their Congresswoman. Outside of herself and her family no one else except her district has a say in this matter.
Posted by: H. Douglas Walker | November 16, 2011, 9:28 pm 9:28 pm
Palin and the Tea Party share equal responsibility. They are irresponsible. They and all their partners on the air waves who “joke” about using violence against others who don’t share their political views helped create a climate that encourages people, who teeter between sanity and insanity and whose access to guns they have protected, to think its okay to kill someone else. Palin and the Tea Party share responsibility. They need to grow up, start acting like adults and stop their so-called “joking”.
Posted by: whatever | November 17, 2011, 6:34 am 6:34 am