John McCain’s opposition to a national insurance catastrophe fund show he’s “out of touch with Florida voters,” said Rudy Giuliani’s Florida chairman, Attorney General Bill McCollum.

McCain told the Tampa Tribune editorial board two weeks ago that he opposes the idea of a national fund to back insurance companies in the case of catastrophic events such as hurricanes—one of the top federal priorities for Florida political leaders.

Monday, the Giuliani campaign reacted after McCain repeated his stance to reporters in South Florida.

McCollum noted that Gov. Charlie Crist has asked every candidate about the issue, and that Giuliani is the only Republican who has committed to it.

“John McCain today definitively said ‘I won’t do that, I will not support the National Catastrophic Fund,’ period, the end.  And I think that’s a mistake on his part.”

Asked about the catastrophic fund by the Tribune editorialists, McCain said, “In some ways, one already exists,” meaning the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But he added that states should act on their own to deal with the problem, and those not subject to disasters shouldn’t be required to participate.

“I don’t see that the people of Arizona should be a part of that,” he said.

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