Tea party supporters packed a Phoenix convention center Saturday to hear from two possible contenders for next year's Republican presidential nomination a�� an election the conservative populist movement is determined to shape after helping the GOP to big gains in the midterm elections.

From the pews of a north Phoenix church on Saturday, Arizona Republicans voted to give the reins of the state party’s power to a grass-roots Tea Party member.

The attorney for a 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has a low-key style and a record of saving high-profile clients from the death penalty.

Throngs of reporters waited hours Monday to get their first look at the mysterious man accused of a deadly shooting rampage that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.

Jared Loughner, the 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate a U.S. Congresswoman and killing six others, appeared in court Monday with his head shaved, a cut above the right temple and his hands cuffed.

Doctors treating Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Monday the congresswoman was responding to verbal commands by raising two fingers of her left hand and even managed to give a thumbs-up.

In an earlier time, the emerging portrait of a deeply troubled young man might have given Jared Loughner's lawyers the basis of an insanity defense. But John Hinckley's successful insanity claim after shooting President Ronald Reagan led Congress to raise the bar, making the task harder.

Some comments from top leaders and political figures about the shooting Saturday that critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed federal Judge John Roll and several others in Tucson, Ariz.

Political strategist Karl Rove says there's no front-runner for the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination.

John McCain is calling in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday.