When I first heard that Florida Governor Charlie Crist was going to marry a woman I actually laughed out loud. Who is he kidding? When Crist stepped onto the national stage while running for governor a couple years ago I think most ‘gaydars’ around the nation went BING. So all I could think about when hearing of his wedding plans was the extent that some will go to gain power. Even to the point of denying who they truly are as a person. That type of personality is not what we need in the White House, or anywhere near it.Most in Wisconsin who were tuned in years ago will recall the Madison gay pol who thought Congress was within grasp if he could just marry a woman. That stuff never works. And shouldn’t. It was for his act of deception, and this form of self-loathing, that I cast my primary vote for his opponent. So why would Crist think that his chances among the GOP to be John McCain’s VP would be enhanced if he married a woman? If Crist is gay that is fine. What is not fine is that those who do not live authentically do stupid things as a cover, such as work to ban gay marriage, and give support to conservative judges who work against gay civil rights.
Andrew Sullivan on Atlantic.com writes the following. And the Broward-Palm Beach Times adds more. Segments from each source below.
It’s funny to watch the partisan right out-do each other to declare Obama a cynic while Charlie Crist gets engaged to a woman at the height of McCain’s veep search. For the record, from the Broward-Palm Beach New Times: The rumors about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the Green Iguana just wouldn’t go away. The story goes that the Florida governor frequented the Green Iguana, a bar in Tampa, back in the early 1990s when he was just starting his political career. He was less careful back then, people say, and during his partying at the Green Iguana, he was openly gay.
When I got Rick Calderoni, the bar’s well-known owner, on the phone, I expected him to stonewall me about it.
He didn’t.
Calderoni, who is gay, confirmed that Crist came into his bar quite often and that the two of them became friends.
Getting to the point, I asked him if he knew Crist to be gay.
“Yes,” he answered bluntly. “I just wish he would come out and admit it. That would be a great thing if he did.”
The topic may soon, however, get some national play. After helping to deliver Florida in the GOP primary, Crist is widely believed to be on the short list to become John McCain’s nominee for vice president.
If he were to be chosen, imagine how interesting this presidential election would be. Not only would the American people be asked to vote for the first black president or female commander in chief, but, at least in terms of subtext, also the first gay vice president.
Are they ready for it? Do they even care?
Most voters will tell you they don’t, that they couldn’t care less about anyone’s sexuality. Of course, they aren’t telling the truth. Human nature demands that they at least be curious. But, absent a Jim McGreevy-/Mark Foley-/Larry Craig-type scandal, I don’t think the issue would change an election. If anything, the buzz would only bring more intrigue to the candidate and possibly add to his support. Being boring is a lot bigger political sin than having sexual secrets in your closet. Americans knew full well that Bill Clinton was a poonhound before they elected him, didn’t they?
Most Floridians had probably at least heard the rumors about Crist before they elected him governor. During the election, I reported about two male GOP staffers’ boasts of having had affairs with Crist when he was running for governor in 2006. The stories burned across the internet and got a bit of play in the mainstream press. Crist won in a landslide anyway. Republicans homophobic? Not in Florida.
If McCain chooses Crist, it would be interesting to see how the voracious national press (as opposed to cautious Florida newspapers) would handle the issue. Would the New York Times put a small team of reporters on the story in an effort to dig up the truth?
