California shooting doesn't fit Washington's gun debate

As investigators search for a motive behind the deadly rampage in San Bernardino, politicians are searching for a way to talk about it.

The details of the California massacre at a holiday party – pointing at a possible link to Islamic militants and raising questions about domestic extremism – quickly knocked both Republicans and Democrats off their talking points, upending what has become a grim and predictable ritual in American politics.

Democrats who have vowed to use every mass shooting as a moment to call for new gun laws were tempering there rallying cries. Republicans who point to mental health services as the solution had begun to blame extremist views.

In an interview today, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said "we have a violence problem in America" but added it's not exclusive to guns. A U.S. citizen with a clean background but extremist views is perhaps the most significant threat," he said.

"That is a very significant, difficult threat to confront," the Florida Republican said on CBS "This morning."

Hillary Clinton also moved carefully in that direction. "It's becoming clearer that we are dealing with an act of terrorism," she said Thursday. "It does raise some serious questions about how we need to be protecting ourselves."

Addressing those questions will become a far more complex debate with fewer clear-cut policy prescriptions than the well-trod conversation over gun control.