{{From C.Cameron: What I love about this is the expression on the face of Giuliani Communicator Katie Levinson in the pink scarf. A real pro with a watchful eye and attentive ear she never once breaks a smile as Mr. Lesiczka tosses one Mitt bashing homerun ball after another into Rudy’s wheelhouse. }}

Hudson, NH — Rudy Giuliani bashed Mitt Romney’s record this morning, arguing that the former Massachusetts governor has one of the “weaker records of any governor on economics” and will have difficulty defending it.

At a diner stop tour in southern New Hampshire, Giuliani faced questions about Romney’s record from Massachusetts resident, Wally Lesiczka, who was eating breakfast in the Granite State.

“He had one of the weaker records of any governor on economics. The CATO Institute said he was “C” for governors and put him in bottom tier of governors on economic record. So I think he will have hard time defending his economic record as governor,” Giuliani said.

He also repeated criticism of Romney’s state health care plan, arguing that Romney knows he made a mistake during his governorship leading to his proposal of a different plan for the nation.

“I think that he understands he made a mistake….he made a mistake by putting on a mandate. He has said he wouldnt do that for the rest of the country. He sort of did Hillary Clinton’s plan in Massachusetts,” Giuliani said. “Of course (it’s) a terrible mistake to mandate helalth care. The minute you mandate it, it ends up costing you much more money.”

For their part, the Romney camp says Giuliani is misleading voters, and Romney is proud of his health care record in Massachusetts but recognizes that different needs require him propose a different plan for the federal level.

Giuliani continues to say he is the candidate with experience when compared to the rest of the GOP field. His latest criticism comes one day after he unleashed on Romney for poor judgment and said Fred Thompson has “no record” to run on.

***UPDATE***

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom responds:

On Economic record: “Governor Romney balanced the budget every year he was in office and tripled the size of the rainy day fund to $2.2 billion. The last budget Governor Romney left ended with a surplus when the fiscal year ended on June 30. The last budget that Rudy Giuliani left his successor had a deficit.”

On health care: “Other candidates talk about getting health care to more citizens, but only one person has actually done it and that’s Mitt Romney. We are on track to covering all our citizens in Massachusetts without raising taxes and without a government takeover. Rudy Giuliani has nothing positive to offer on the issue of health care.”

***UPDATE 2***

The Giuliani is refuting the Romney budget claim, citing stats from the independent city comptroller report and noting that New York ended Fiscal Year 2002 with a $681 million surplus, not a deficit.