Groan

Sadly you could see this coming from Team Rudy and its backers, it was just a matter of time I suppose.

This is just in bad taste, and the crew in New York should not stay silent on it.

A supporter of Rudy Giuliani's is throwing a party that aims to raise $9.11 per person for the Republican's presidential campaign.

Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, Calif., home on Wednesday, when Giuliani backers across the country are participating in the campaign's national house party night.

But Sofaer said he had nothing to do with the "$9.11 for Rudy" theme.

"There are some young people who came up with it," Sofaer said when reached by telephone Monday evening. He referred other questions to Giuliani's campaign.

"I'm just providing support for him. He's an old friend of mine," Sofaer said of Giuliani.

Sofaer was a State Department adviser under President Reagan and is a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

Giuliani's campaign had no immediate comment.

According to the invitation, "$9.11 for Rudy" is an "independent, non-denominational grass-roots campaign to raise $10,000 in small increments to show how many individual, everyday Americans support `America's Mayor.'"

Giuliani was mayor of New York during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Obviously campaigns have no control over the actions of their supporters. But a small email may have done wonders here.

Now they have a PR crisis, and probably many more 9/11 Families angry at them than before. I was long wondering how long it was going to take for 9/11 to become a joke for Giuliani in the eyes of the media, not his greatest asset.

That turning point's arriving sooner than you'd think.

UPDATE: CNN has an updated version of this story. It has the following statement from the Giuliani Campaign.

Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella said: "These are two volunteers who acted independently of and without the knowledge of the campaign. Their decision to ask individuals for that amount was an unfortunate choice."

That's pretty much all you can say. It wasn't an official campaign action and you can't control everyone who flies your colors.

But yeah, they didn't need this headache today.