Subject: Charlie Crist

• Full Disclosure: S.V. Date Is Back

  February 22, 2008

• Love In An Elevator, Charlie Crist-Style

  May 27, 2008

• Sorry, Charlie (Crist) ...

  May 31, 2008

• Bad Times Charlie

  July 4, 2008

• Some News For You

  July 10, 2008

• Charlie Appoints Brother To Judgeship

  July 29, 2008

• If Charlie Crist Were A Dog ...

  September 28, 2008

• Crist's Frat Buddy In Hot Water

  November 10, 2008

• Crist's Wedding Dress, the GOP's KKK Problem, and the Dunkin' Badass

    Crist Buys Wedding Dress, Won't Be One Wearing It If you're the type of person who laughs at the sight of a beard-wedding dress combination, you'll appreciate the news that Charlie Crist's fiancee recently bought herself a wedding gown. I say this not because the accusations that Carole Rome is Crist's beard-bride but simply because my Google Image Search skills totally suck. While I meant to find a woman wearing a similar silk dress made by a Spanish designer, what I got instea

  December 2, 2008

• Wedding Crashers II: When Gays Attack

  For all this talk of who's invited to Gov. Charlie Crist's wedding, has anyone remembered the fire hoses and German shepherds? They tend to occupy the front lines of Republican efforts to quash civil rights, and perhaps they'll make the guest list now that regional gays have announced they're crashing the gov's December 12 nuptials in St. Pete.Ah, but Impact Florida -- a gay marriage organization hastily formed in the aftermath of Amendment 2's passage last month -- objects to the term "crashi

  December 2, 2008

• The Beginnings of the Crist List

  While taking my first read of New Times' rip-roaring new Juice Blog (check it out) I wondered:   Who in Broward County have been graced with invitations for Charlie Crist's December 12 wedding?   My first phone call went to Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein, who was at his restaurant, Bova Prime, going over his business plan with partners when we spoke. Rothstein has raised hundreds of G's for Crist and the GOP and counts the guvnuh as one of his best buds.   "

  December 3, 2008

• Morning Juice: Florida Gators vs. Howard's Mustache, Scions Go to Europe

  That's quite a soup-catcher. Thank You, Howard's MustacheThe University of Florida will play in the national championship football game next month in Miami. This is big news that comes in very handy, considering this is a football-themed edition today, which, beyond this sentence, will not include the words booyah or back, back back. I will, however, rhetorically be asking, Are you ready for some football? Which, if you went to FAU, you'll appreciate, because it was announced yesterday that some

  December 8, 2008

• Nation Lampoons European Vacation

  Oh Jesus Charles J. Crist! The governor's in hot water over his European vacation trade mission this past July. Apparently, Crist and his entourage ran up a tab of just under a half-mill, part of which was spent on nine "bodyguards." Yes, that's what they're calling them now. Above, Crist and fiance Carole Rome pose next to a startled Prince Andrew, who reportedly was heard to whisper to Camilla, "Who's the orange bloke?" To be fair, Crist and Co. were very frugal during the London leg of the tr

  December 9, 2008

• Morning Juice: Good Morning America Seeks Rare Sand-Free Workers, Charlie Crist Offers to Give Us Free Exams

  Try not to seem too drunk when you hand out your resume. Job Fair Seeks Rare Dedicated, Sand-Free WorkersHundreds of desperate job-seekers got in line this morning outside The Diplomat in Hollywood for a job fair put on by Good Morning America. The show's website describes the event this way:Don't let all the sun and the sand fool you, South Florida, just like the rest of America, is full of hard-working people. We'll be there to help some of those people turn their talents and dedication into

  December 11, 2008

• Morning Juice: Crist Weds Today as Enis, Santa May Attend, Palm Beach Post Crushes Hopes, Dreams

  Will Crist Be Unable to Quit Mark Foley?Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to wed Carole Rome today in St. Petersburg, officially making the state of Florida a remake of Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger's death solidified the ever-tanned and fastidious Crist into the role of Enis, the troubled homosexual cowboy whose political party won't let him live the lifestyle he so desires. No word yet on who plays Jake Gyllenhaall's part, but my money's on Mark Foley.After the jump, will Santa come to Charlie

  December 12, 2008

• Paparazzi Unimpressed by Ambiguously Straight Gov

  Don't you feel just a little sorry for the gawkers of St. Petersburg / Tampa? They've been waiting to get their place on the celebrity map forever! But no, Anna Nicole had to croak in the that other Seminole Hard Rock hotel. Today's Charlie Crist-Carole Rome wedding was supposed to be the cities' Big Celebrity Moment.But then Paps of the world responded with a collective meh! "Socialites only sort of hit our radar if they have reality shows, to be frank," said Jill Stempel, New York bureau chief

  December 12, 2008

• Quinniapac Picks the Next U.S. Senator, Governor for Florida

  McCollum (left) and Crist are the frontrunners.The Quinniapac University Bobcats cannot wait for us Floridians to pick our own U.S. Senator in 2010. Besides, Florida will probably have its votes stripped by Howard Dean again, anyway. So Quinniapac staged the election for us and... hello, U.S. Senator Bill McCollum?Among possible contenders, Florida's current Attorney General, a Republican, scored the highest percentage of favorable opinions. That list included Democratic former front runner Alex

  January 21, 2009

• New Poll: Crist in Pole Position

  A "double" what? Sorry, I don't speak French. Just check out the Strategic Vision poll released yesterday on Florida's 2010 U.S. Senate race. It attaches numbers to some obvious truths, such as Gov. Charlie Crist getting 54 percent of the votes against other prospective candidates in a Republican primary. The poll, which interviewed 1,200 likely voters last week, has Crist routing all Democrat nominees, too. The surprise among the Democrats is Pam Iorio, Democrat mayor of Tampa, whose 29 percent

  February 13, 2009

• Teflon Charlie Rules Lauderdale Stage

  The big punchline in Washington D.C. these days is "bipartisanship." Barack Obama wants to be friends with Republicans but they don't want to be friends with him. Of course, it's all politics. The Republicans have nothing to gain from jumping on the Obama bandwagon and everything to gain if that wagon loses a wheel or three. But Obama has managed to make a friend out of at least one Republican: Our own Gov. Charlie Crist.In opening remarks before this afternoon's town hall meeting at the Galt Oc

  February 18, 2009

• A Bad Time to Be a Butler

  Photo: MaskworldDemocrats desperate to put some dents in Gov. Charlie Crist's high approval ratings are chastising him for keeping a butler and a personal chef on the state payroll at a time when cops and teachers are being laid off. In a statement released today, Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman saidIt is crazy that after cutting nearly $9 billions from Florida's budget, Republicans still find money to give Charlie Crist a taxpayer funded chef and butler. Even they admit that their

  February 19, 2009

• Recap: Crist on Meet the Press

  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist faced off with David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press a few minutes ago. Crist started by stressing the importance of bipartisan support for President Obama's stimulus package, then ended by... well... essentially withdrawing his own support for the package.Host Gregory began the interview by asking about Crist's appearance with Obama at the town hall in meeting in Fort Myers a few weeks ago -- an appearance that aggravated national Republicans who were trying to constr

  February 22, 2009

• Corrupt Politicians to Teach Charlie Crist, Principal who Attacked Wife Won't Be Sharing Toilet with Commissioners

  State inspectors use the newest techology to curb corruption.The state wants all six Palm Beach County commissioners to testify under oath about corruption in hopes that they might teach authorities how to catch corrupt politicians. The move comes after Mary McCarty resigned under corruption charges and while two former commissioners are sharing a metal toilet with a man who gives them little girl nicknames. Why would authorities want to talk to the Legion of Doom of corruption about how to end

  February 27, 2009

• Karen Thurman Talks About Gubernatorial Race

  The St. Pete Times political blog, The Buzz, just posted this interview with Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman: At about the 90-second mark, Thurman responds to criticism that the party lacks a "bench" by touting Jack Seiler's victory in the Fort Lauderdale mayoral race. If a Democrat winning election in a Democratic city counts as a blockbuster, the state Dems are in trouble. In advance of the 2010 election, in which Gov. Charlie Crist will be either gunning for reelection or for the

  March 10, 2009

• The Man Beneath Charlie Crist's Wings

  The Sun-Sentinel's report on Charlie Crist's air travel (along with a parallel investigation by the Times/Herald Tally bureau) supports my image of the man who is our governor. He's a politician who wants to hobnob with the elite while trying keep his own hands clean. A man who believes his destiny is to be a benevolent king. A fellow who wants to (apparently literally) fly above it all.   Steven ScottThe problem for Crist is that we

  March 25, 2009

• Talk to the Tan: Crist Ditches Teen Meeting

  Yesterday, the Florida Governor's Office posted this press release on Gov. Charlie Crist's "Kids Only" town hall meeting. It contained the following statement:"It is important that our leaders hear what Florida's youth have to say and consider their ideas to make our state better for future generations," said Governor Crist. Crist then gave a perfunctory speech to the kids and got the hell outta there before they could ask a single question, according to the Associated Press.Classy move, Chuck.

  April 1, 2009

• Stop Charlie

  Sell one of our most traveled freeways to some foreigners? Might as well just give 'em a Budweiser.

  July 31, 2008

• Sugar Daddy

  For bailing out Big Sugar, Charlie Crist gets a hero's medal. Sweet!

  July 17, 2008

• The Talk of the Green Iguana

  Will American voters elect the first gay vice president in November?

  February 28, 2008

• Abused Kids Get $10 Million From State

  Last year, I wrote a feature story about three little boys who had been horribly abused in the state foster care system. They were eventually placed with an adoptive family -- but the Department of Children and Families hid the boys' case files and backgrounds from the adoptive parents. As the boys grew up, with no psychological intervention or treatment, they acted out sexually, were cruel to animals (one boy killed ten horses and four cats), and became extraordinarily violent (another brother

  June 4, 2009

• Can Florida Governors Save GOP From Its Self-Destructive Impulses?

  Flickr User: marsdencartoonsMaybe Rush Limbaugh doesn't spend enough time in his Palm Beach home. Because clearly, there's no path back to political relevance for the Republican Party that does not include winning back Florida. And yet the two figures who have the most credibility on that front, governors Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist, are being tossed aside by the radio personality turned voice of the party as well as by others on the party's far right.During a time when Limbaugh was preaching his

  May 11, 2009

• Crist Jumps Into Senate Race

  Flickr User: CABridgesThe would-be future senator with the soon-to-be past Sen. Martinez.Now we got ourselves a bona fide political jamboree. Charlie Crist will seek Florida's U.S. Senate seat on behalf of the Dixiecrat, I mean the Whig, I mean the (could this be right?) Republican Party, even though other Republicans say they've already picked a guy named Marco Rubio. The boyish former Florida House speaker welcomed Crist to the race with a blistering attack. In an interview with POLITICO, (Rub

  May 12, 2009

• A Memo to National Voters: Get to Know Our Crist

  Dear national voter,You've probably heard a bit about our governor down here in Florida, you know, the one who was lucky enough not to be picked to go down with the John McCain ship. But you're about to hear a lot more about Charlie Crist, because our boy is running for Senate, and there's no doubt that means he'll be running for president not long after. So there's a few things you should know, including:* As president, he may sell the highway system to foreigners.* One of his advisers has ties

  May 13, 2009

• Movie Challenges Media to Question Crist's Sexuality

  These days, Charlie Crist is surely wanting headlines to mention his Senate bid, not talk about his ex-boyfriends. But all that surfaces on the new movie Outrage, which opens locally tomorrow at Gateway in Fort Lauderdale.Outrage chronicles the many closeted gay Republicans who have surfaced over the years. It details how they've lived a double life -- soliciting gay sex in public bathrooms and trolling the Internet for random hook-ups. The film emphasizes what's relevant about outing this very

  May 14, 2009

• But Does Charlie Like Fish Sticks?

  In picking the week's best quotes for its "Verbatim" page, Time magazine prizes drama (a quote from the co-pilot killed in the plane crash near Buffalo), candor (Jesse Ventura saying what he'd do with a waterboard and Dick Cheney), and gaffes, especially the kind that reveal more truth than they intended.And one can't help but wonder about one curious selection for enshrinement in this week's Verbatim, on the U.S. Senate bid of Charlie Crist:"He is the big fish that national Republicans have bee

  May 15, 2009

• Conservative Blogosphere Stokes Mutiny After GOP Snubs Rubio

  Flickr User: Americans forProsperityRubioMoments after Charlie Crist announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate last week, he received the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, with endorsements from leading Republican Senators like Mitch McConnell soon to follow. The intent wasn't just to welcome Crist but to discourage the Senate candidacy of Marco Rubio, who has dared to question Crist's commitment to the conservative cause.But that effort by the NRSC may have galvanized t

  May 20, 2009

• The True Cost of Protecting Crist's Family

  The St. Petersburg Times ran an intriguing expose today about the thousands of dollars it costs to provide state security to Gov. Charlie Crist's wife and her children. It's worth reading not so much because of what it says, but how much was left unsaid--namely, why anyone would care about this, if it weren't for persistent rumors about Crist's sexuality. In the past six months, it cost the Florida Department of Law Enforcement $57,000 to protect Carole Crist and her two kids. This is hardly an

  May 22, 2009

• In Turbulent Times, State Digs Deep for Crist

  Flickr User: Michelle LylesIn an era of unprecedented financial insecurity for the state that Charlie Crist governs, the aspiring U.S. Senator achieved an unprecedented financial windfall. During his campaign's most recent 50 days he raised $4.3 million.That combination isn't lost on Adam Smith, political editor of the St. Petersburg Times. He muses:Just think what Crist could do for Florida's budget shortfall next year if he hit the fundraising circuit again for general revenue.An unsubtle jab

  July 14, 2009

• Trump and Real Housewife Host Fundraiser for Crist

  We have some rich friends, honey.Speaking of Gov. Charlie Crist's fundraising skills...This weekend for $1,000 a pop, Crist fans in Sag Harbor, New York can attend a party hosted by his celebrity pals: Jill Zarin, one of The Real Housewives of New York City, and Donald Trump.  Zarin is close friends with Crist's wife, Carole Rome, who never really gave up her New York social life when she wedded Florida's most unlikely bachelor. (Here at The Juice, we were betting Crist was more Clay Aiken'

  July 14, 2009

• Ex-Husband Maligns Crist Donors

  Flickr User: leyla.aJohnny and Michelle Damon: Baseball pays the bills, but politics -- and Crist -- is the passionCharlie Crist and wife Carole Rome are recently returned from a star-studded fund-raising trip to the Hamptons. Rome's ex, Todd Rome, was not invited, probably because he was a threat to give a toast like the one that he gave to the New York Post:"THEY figure they might as well come to the Hamptons and get the money from people who don't give a [bleep]."What vicious slander! As the

  July 22, 2009

• Tonight, Crist to Feed on Fort Lauderdale's Bluest Blood

  Charlie Crist will appear at a fundraiser tonight at the Tower Club in downtown Fort Lauderdale. For those that want to roll VIP, the price is 5-grand.Sorry, Charlie (middle). You won't be able to wear his cutoff T-shirt to tonight's swankfest. ​Not sure if that's a discount from the club's monthly rate (membership director didn't return a call immediately), but I suppose this is kind of like rush week at the fraternity: a bunch of uninitiated but promising "pledges" pay a visit and there's so

  July 29, 2009

• Will George Lemieux Be Crist's Harriet Miers?

  Crist and Martinez, whose Senate vacancy may be filled by the governor's "maestro."​That's the first name that popped into my head when I heard that Crist was serious about tapping his former chief of staff, George Lemieux, Broward County's most connected political player, to serve the remainder of Mel Martinez's term in the U.S. Senate.Harriet Miers, of course, was White House counsel under George W. Bush. Her selection by Bush for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court was one of the most sur

  August 20, 2009

• Broward School Board Members Who Oversaw Rampant Overspending Just Make Things Worse

  August 20, 2009

• Shameless: Crist Taps LeMieux for Senate

  It seemed too nakedly cynical to be possible -- and yet it just happened. Pass the smelling salts.We warned Charlie Crist this could be his Harriet Miers moment. He didn't listen -- to us or to the people in his campaign who must have had the same anxieties. If Crist gets just half the public backlash he deserves for this move, then Marco Rubio is alive in the race of the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.After the jump, Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman gives an appropriately dis

  August 28, 2009

• Meek Lambastes Crist for LeMieux Appointment; Rubio, When Will You Tweet?

  U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek​Congressman Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate just released a statement about Charlie Crist's announcement that he was appointing former chief of staff George LeMieux to the Senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez.From the moment Senator Martinez announced his retirement, Governor Crist placed his ambitions over Florida's needs. Floridians require a Senator working to ease their economic pain and achieve comprehensive health insurance reform, n

  August 28, 2009

• Lawyer Pals Cheer LeMieux at Fort Lauderdale City Hall

  Photo by Lisa RabLeMieux hugs a friend while Crist looks on.​Standing next to Gov. Charlie Crist's famously tanned mug, George LeMieux looks positively pasty, like a British-transfer student on the first day of spring break. But no one cared this afternoon at Fort Lauderdale City Hall, where Crist anointed LeMieux the state's new U.S. Senator. For what he lacked in skin pigmentation, LeMieux made up for in boot-thumping conservatism."I'm pro-life, I'm pro-gun, I'm pro family," LeMieux assured

  August 28, 2009

• Morning Juice: Senator Sidesteps Corruption Probe; Triple Murder in Lake Worth

  ​On what's unofficially the last week of summer, here's what's in the news:Florida's U.S. senator designate, George LeMieux, did not fall for an effort by Alan Mendelsohn, the Hollywood ophthalmologist and Charlie Crist fundraiser, to lure the administration into admitting complicity in the Mutual Benefits fraud, according to investigators in that case. [Miami Herald] The Seminoles and Charlie Crist's office are expected to announce a deal that would allow the tribe to play blackjack in exchan

  August 31, 2009

• The LeMieux-Crist Master Plan Revealed: Senate Dominance by 2012

  Yes, you heard right. In the closing moments of that Capital News Service video, the reporter says that Broward County trailblazer George LeMieux "is leaving open the possibility that he'll run for U.S. Senate in 2012," when that darned Democrat Bill Nelson is up for reelection. Which means if his pal Charlie Crist wins the Senate in 2010, as he's favored to do, then in 2012, it could be Crist and LeMieux -- two peas in a pod -- representing Florida in the U.S. Senate.Holy cronyism, Batman! Has

  September 10, 2009

• Carole Crist's Strangely Secret Cameo in Palm Beach

  Try to invite a quorum next time, honey.​If the governor's wife holds a cancer-awareness event and no one is there to witness it, did it really happen?Yesterday, Carole Crist spoke at a luncheon at the Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach. Her goal was to raise awareness about ovarian cancer. But only about a dozen people attended the event, in part

  October 1, 2009

• Morning Juice: Crist Taps a School Board Member; Heart Attack Killed Picower

  ​For fresh material on the breaking news item of the moment, the stabbings in Manalapan, scroll down. Here's what else is happening in Broward and Palm Beach:That's not the day's only stabbing story. A 15-year-old in Coral Springs stabbed his 14-year-old brother to death during a fight over the volume of a computer. [Sun-Sentinel]Former Broward GOP chair Kevin Tynan has been appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace Beverly Gallagher on the Broward County School Board. Tynan's got zero backgr

  October 27, 2009

• Crist's Three Disciples: Men Closest to Governor All From Broward

  LeMieux getting comfortable in the office Charlie scored for him.​Say this about young Broward County Republicans: They know a meal ticket when they see one. By my count, the three men who have the most crucial roles in getting Charlie Crist elected to the U.S. Senate are all from Broward.We know about George LeMieux, the former county GOP chair and campaign "maestro" who thanks to an appointment by Crist is now the youngest U.S. Senator. LeMieux's job: simply to vacate the office when Charlie

  October 28, 2009