Citing VT shooting, Giuliani cancels Denver event

David Montero, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 17, 2007 at midnight

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Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani cancelled a private fund-raiser at the home of former Denver Nuggets General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe tonight due to the shootings at Virginia Tech University.

Giuliani spokesman Jarrod Agen said the former New York mayor was in Denver but would likely leave tonight or Tuesday morning and that two events in Virginia and Maryland scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled as well.

The Giuliani campaign issued a statement late in the afternoon prior to the cancelled fundraiser.

"On this day of national tragedy, when we lost some of our finest to this senseless act, we stand together as a country to mourn those who lost their lives," Giuliani’s statement read. "My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the survivors and the many friends, colleagues and family members of those who perished. May God bless them all."

The fund-raiser, which was a $1,000 per person minimum, listed several politicians and athletes as the event host committee — including former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and Republican Marc Holtzman.

Colorado House Minority Leader Mike May, who was listed on the host committee, balked at attending because he worried about Amendment 41, an ethics measure passed by Colorado voters last November, and being at an event that charged a fee.

"I don’t want to be in the middle of an Amendment 41 test," May said.

But he also worried about Giuliani’s stances on abortion and guns — liabilities that two protestors handing out leaflets outside the Van De Weghe home said were crippling to the former mayor.

Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said Giuliani’s stance on guns was out of step with the Republican Party and agreed with fellow protestor Aaron Brown’s assessment that the presidential hopeful had grown too comfortable relying on bodyguards instead of carrying a weapon himself.

"Most people I know can’t afford bodyguards," Brown said. "He seems to have lost sight of that."

Another protestor bellowed out his opposition to Giuliani as a handful of guests arrived about 30 minutes prior to the cancellation of the event. The protestor, carrying large poster size pictures of aborted children, yelled, "God will not be mocked."

As the word of the cancelled event filtered through, yellow-jacketed valets scrambled to fetch guests' cars parked along the streets of the posh neighborhood.

May said, in light of the anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School this week and the shooting at Virginia Tech, Giuliani made the right decision to cancel the event.

"It would be unseemly to be raising money in light of the horrible tragedy," May said.

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