The RP on his friend Gabby Giffords in the Washington Times

As the nation celebrates the miraculous recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords, who was grievously wounded just over a year ago — and who has decided to retire from Congress today — The RP spoke to the Washington Times about Gabby’s legacy:

For Ms. Giffords, civility had been an issue well before the shooting.

Even before she won her seat in Congress, she was part of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute’s leadership program, designed to foster better sharing and cooperation on ideas among elected officials.

One of her fellow classmates was Jonathan Miller, then the treasurer of Kentucky, who would go on to co-found No Labels, a group that pushes elected officials to move past partisanship and who said Ms. Giffords has become a symbol of “a return to civility and a return to developing relationships.”

“That’s what Gabby’s career is all about,” he said.

His group and Third Way, a progressive-leaning think tank, want to institutionalize the bipartisan State of the Union seating, which Third Way and some lawmakers came up with in the wake of the Tucson shooting.

“There was that very temporary surge [in civility], and it was quickly forgotten it seems,” Mr. Miller said. “But I think in that temporary surge there were a number of efforts that got their germination, including No Labels, that really have picked up a lot of steam and a lot of energy.”

Click here to read the full Washington Times article.

The RP additionally was quoted yesterday in the National Journal on last night’s bi-partisan seating at the State of the Union address, also a legacy of Giffords’ service:

Part of the push for bipartisan seating comes from independent groups like Third Way and No Labels, which took out a full-page ad in the New York Times earlier this month. But are they really expecting Republicans and Democrats sitting next to each other to solve partisan gridlock?

Last year’s State of the Union included bipartisan seating in response to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). But that didn’t exactly lay the groundwork for a productive and cooperative 2011.

“It won’t have any dramatic short-term effect,” admitted Jonathan Miller, a co-founder of No Labels and the former treasurer of Kentucky.

But, Miller said, if bipartisan seating gets institutionalized, it could make a difference. And he said that “it’s a signal to the public that [lawmakers] are taking their demand for less hyper-partisanship seriously.”

No Labels has also been tracking the announced bipartisan seating pairs.

Click here to read the full National Journal piece.