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Giuliani Meets GOP Financiers In Tampa

Posted May 18, 2007 by William March

Updated May 18, 2007 at 08:50 PM

Rudy Giuliani bashed Hillary Clinton in a forum with business and political leaders in Orlando, then met with a group of about 20 big-dollar Republican political financiers in Tampa, during a campaign swing through Florida Friday.

The Tampa session was unannounced and closed to the press. But according to attendees and invitees, businessman John Jaeb helped Giuliani state chairman Bill McCollum, who’s also attorney general, set up an airport stopover with about 20 major GOP donors, many of them uncommitted, for a get-to-know-you session.

Attendees included some of the biggest names in Tampa GOP fundraising—developers Al Austin and Dick Beard, Dick Mandt, Rick Michaels, lawyer Steve Burton, physician R.R. Vijay and others.

During the session, one attendee said, Giuliani refused to criticize President George Bush on the Iraq war, saying mistakes can happen during such crises.

The Associated Press reports that in Orlando, Giuliani bashed the health care reform proposal Clinton helped developed at her husband’s request in the early 1990’s. He referred to “HillaryCare, which is just put more people on a government program. It’s going to get worse and worse.” The Clinton campaign wouldn’t respond.

Giuliani said he thinks health care will be a major issue in the 2008 general election. In past campaign appearances, he has criticized government-mandated reform plans.

His Republican primary opponent Mitt Romney is known for such a plan—a statewide health care program he implemented as governor of Massachusetts, but Giuliani has refused to pin his remarks to Romney.