Rudy: Democrats ‘Want To Raise Your Taxes’
ST. PETERSBURG – Rudy Giuliani was the star but the Pinellas Republican Party was the winner as almost 500 people gathered Friday evening at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club for a Reagan Day fundraiser. Speaking without notes, the former mayor of New York City and presidential candidate said the “Democrats, all three of them, want to raise your taxes (and) that’s a promise they will keep.” The Reagan dinner, the second major fundraiser for the local party this year, was orchestrated by county chair Tony DiMatteo who has praised Giuliani “for his exceptional leadership ability,” but who has not endorsed any candidate for president. The two-term mayor appeared earlier this year in St. Petersburg at a rally arranged by DiMatteo. Other comments by Giuliani included:
“I am the one that can keep America on offense against terrorism.”
“ . .. really great job Charlie (Crist) is doing as governor” of Florida.
“Ronald Reagan is my hero.”
“I can run a campaign in all 50 states.”
“I need your support because Florida is really important.”
- FrontPageFlorida.com report / Photo by Slobodan Juric
Giuliani In Tampa On Monday
TAMPA -- Presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani will make two campaign stops in Tampa on Monday.
The former Republican mayor of New York City will be at the La Casa Dolce Cafe, 406 S. Howard Ave. The free meet-and-greet event starts at 5 p.m.
On Monday evening, Giuliani will also attend a fundraiser in Tampa.
Giuliani, the consistent leader in polls among Republican voters, was last in the Tampa Bay area to keynote the Reagan Day Dinner fundraiser for the Pinellas County Republican Party.
Almost 500 people attended the Sept. 7 event arranged by party chair Tony DiMatteo. In May, Giuliani spoke at a rally at St. Petersburg High School.
In Florida among Republicans, an average of public opinion polls by Real Clear Politics shows Giuliani with 28.3 percent, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson with 19.8 percent, former governor Mitt Romney with 11 percent and U.S. Senator John McCain with 8.5 percent.
Thompson, who recently made his presidential bid official, has also recently campaigned in the Tampa Bay area.
On Friday, the former two-term senator and character actor spoke to a sellout crowd at the annual Reagan Day fundraiser for the Pasco County Republican Party.
Pasco GOP chairman Bill Bunting also arranged for Thompson to appear on Saturday morning at the Lakeland Rifle and Pistol Club's gun show.
Thompson, who will return to Tampa on Tuesday to raise funds at a noon "round table" lunch, was endorsed at the show by state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland.
--FrontPageFlorida.com report
Giuliani To Keynote Pinellas GOP Dinner
TAMPA -- The Pinellas County Republican Party is planning to hold a Reagan Day Dinner early next month that will feature Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City.
Party chairman Tony DiMatteo told FrontPageFlorida.com that Giuliani will be the keynote speaker at the dinner scheduled for Sept. 7. The mayor also will attend “several” other campaign events while in the Tampa Bay area, DiMatteo said.
Giuliani spoke at a campaign rally in Pinellas earlier this year at St. Petersburg High School.
“I’ve always had the highest admiration for mayor Giuliani and his exceptional leadership ability,” DiMatteo said.
DiMatteo said the time and location of the dinner, which is in the early planning stages, will be announced later this week. He said the ticketed event will benefit the local party and will be open to the public.
In Florida, Giuliani continues to lead among Republicans. A Quinnipiac University poll released Aug. 8 of likely Republican voters showed Giuliani with 26 percent, former U.S. Sen. Fred D. Thompson with 19 percent, U.S. Sen. John McCain with 11 percent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with 9 percent and 6 percent for Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House.
So far this year, Giuliani has made 13 trips to Florida. His statewide paid staff of 13 also has been busy putting together local campaign organizations throughout the state.
Recently, the campaign released a list of 32 counties with volunteer campaign chairmen. Bay area chairs include Margie Milford of Pinellas, Hillsborough County Commissioner Rose Ferlita, former Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells, Jerry Carter of Polk County and Heather Rose-Fiorentino, superintendent of Pasco County schools.
- FrontPageFlorida.com report/ Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
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Mitt Romney
Romney Keynotes Hillsborough GOP Fundraiser
TAMPA – Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, was the keynote speaker at the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner Saturday.
The fundraiser, a gathering of about 560 political activists, elected officials and business leaders, raised a record $195,000 for the local party, more than doubling last year’s total. Funds raised are used in Hillsborough County to help elect Republicans to office.
Romney’s visit to west central Florida follows a new opinion poll that shows him trailing in the 2008 presidential race among Florida Republican primary voters. In the statewide opinion poll by Quinnipiac University, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads with 38 percent, followed by U.S. Sen. John McCain with 18 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 14 percent and 6 percent for Romney.
Before his speech, Romney answered questions at a roundtable discussion, posed for photos with donors and event volunteers and attended a reception hosted by county GOP chairman David A. Storck.
-FrontPageFlorida.com report
Romney To Keynote Hillsborough GOP Lincoln Day Dinner
TAMPA – Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is expected to launch a 2008 presidential bid before year end, will give the keynote address to the Hillsborough County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner scheduled for March 10 in Tampa.
Hillsborough Chair David A. Storck told FrontPageFlorida.com that Romney asked to speak at the annual party fundraiser, a gathering of elected officials, political activists, lobbyists, agricultural and business people. At the previous Lincoln Day, incoming House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Coral Gables Republican, spoke to an audience of some 500 people.
Romney “sees the importance of Hillsborough as an anchor county along the politically important I-4 corroder," Storck said. Republicans “have done well” in Hillsborough, he said. In the general election, Hillsborough produced the second highest vote total for Republican Governor-elect Charlie Crist while Republicans have six of the seven seats on the Hillsborough County Commission.
Seperately, Storck confirmed that he is running for re-election as the local party chair in a election scheduled for Dec. 5. Storck was widely praised at a meeting earlier this week with local campaign volunteers for his leadership of the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee, the largest in Florida.
The announcement of Romney’s March appearance in Florida comes at a time when he “is bringing together his advisers and leading supporters for a post election powwow this weekend as he nears the most important decision of his political career,” according to a Boston Globe report.
“Romney, who has for months deflected questions about his presidential ambitions, is huddling with advisers and donors just as the field of GOP presidential hopefuls begins to come into sharper focus, with potential rivals such as Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani already forming presidential exploratory committees. Romney's meetings this weekend are certain to touch on his plans for 2008 and how and when to make them known,” the Globe reported.
Romney, 58 years old, is from a prominent political family; George Romney, his late father, is a former Republican governor of Michigan and presidential candidate.
-- FrontPageFlorida.com report.
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Fred Thompson
Thompson's Style
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, the character actor on Law & Order and former U.S. Senator, left, with Bill Bunting, chairman of the Pasco County Republican Party. Thompson was warmly received at the local party's annual Reagan Day Dinner where a sell out crowd of more than 500 people heard Thompson call for "lower taxes, less regulation," a strong national defense and stress the "importance" of protecting the Second Amendment. Attorney General Bill McCullom was the keynote speaker at the annual fundraiser and Shari Kotsch, Pasco GOP committee woman, was the chair of the event. -- FrontPageFlorida.com report / Photo by FrontPageFlorida.com
Thompson To Speak At Pasco GOP Dinner
TAMPA -- The Pasco County Republican Party has landed Fred Thompson as a speaker at the party’s annual Reagan Day Dinner fundraiser.
Thompson, the character actor and former U.S. Senator, recently announced his presidential bid on the Internet Wednesday night and then appeared on the Tonight Show (see video below).
Thompson was elected to a partial term in the Senate from Tennessee in 1994. He then was elected to a full term in 1996 before retiring from the Senate in 2003.
The party fundraiser, which will be held this Friday at the Spartan Manor, 6121 Massachusetts Ave. in New Port Richey, is open to the public.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. event are $60 per person. Information is available by calling Shari Kotsch, Pasco state committeewoman and event chairwoman, at 727- 938-9888.
“The American people need to come together,” Thompson said in Tampa in May at the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation dinner. The country is “faced with people that want to kill us” and the role the United States plays in the world means terrorism “will be with us after we leave Iraq.” “We have a war that does not depend on decisive battles, but decisive leadership,” Thompson said.
According to an average of polls by Real Clear Politics (see Florida Republican Primary article below), the former two-term Senator trails only former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani among Republicans in Florida.
On Friday, Giuliani spoke to almost 500 people attending a Reagan Dinner fundraiser for the Pinellas County Republican Party in downtown St. Petersburg.
Kotsch said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum will be the keynote speaker and state Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, will serve as master of ceremonies at the dinner, which typically draws about 500 people.
- FrontPageFlorida.com report
Thompson Remains Undecided On Presidential Bid
Former senator says it's "still a little early"
TAMPA – Fred Thompson, the character actor and former U.S. Senator, said at the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation dinner that he had “not made a decision” on whether to run for president but would do so in “the not too distant future.”
In prepared remarks, Thompson gave an overview of his life in public service, politics, elective office and acting, laced with famous names, events, anecdotes and self-deprecating humor. He currently plays a district attorney on the long-running television show Law & Order.
But while answering written questions from audience members after his 40-minute talk, Thompson candidly gave his views on global terror, the war in Iraq and a possible presidential bid. The questions were selected and asked by Keith Cate, the event’s master of ceremonies and a news anchor for WFLA News Channel 8.
“I have not made a decision on that (running for president) yet,” Thompson, a lawyer, said in response to the first question read by Cate. It’s “still a little early,” Thompson said, adding that he would “make a decision on it in (the) not too distant future.”
Running for president is “not something I have been planning since the eighth grade,” Thompson told about 500 lawyers and guests, mostly from business, attending the foundation's annual fundraiser for non-profit agencies in the community.
Discussion of Thompson's political future comes at a time when the former two-term Senator from Tennessee trailes only New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona among Republicans in an average of national presidential polls.
In all, Thompson answered 10 questions from the audience, including one that asked him to comment on the “foreign policy blunders” of President Bush.
“The American people need to come together,” Thompson said. The country is “faced with people that want to kill us” and the role the United States plays in the world means terrorism “will be with us after we leave Iraq.” “We have a war that does not depend on decisive battles, but decisive leadership,” Thompson said.
On a lighter note, Thompson, who has appeared in 18 motion pictures including The Hunt for Red October, Cape Fear and In the Line of Fire, drew laughs as he told about an autograph seeker mistaking him for Dr. Phil, the psychologist with a television show. He also joked about walking with Tom Cruse: “women would go wild -- and he thought it was about him.”
- FrontPageFlorida.com report