Posts Tagged ‘VP’
CRIST TO MARRY!?!?: Florida’s most powerful bachelor is getting hitched.
Gov. Charlie Crist, single for nearly three decades, on Thursday morning became engaged to his girlfriend of nine months, Carole Rome.
“She’s special in every way. She’s brilliant, beautiful and sweet. I’m very, very lucky,” Crist told the St. Petersburg Times in an exclusive interview.
“PREGNANT MAN” THOMAS BEATIE GIVES BIRTH
Thomas Beatie, the transgender man who made headlines as the so-called “pregnant man,” gave birth Sunday to a healthy baby girl, ABC News has learned.
CONSERVATIVE ICON JESSE HELMS DEAD
Jesse Helms, the firebrand United States senator whose outspoken, conservative views polarized North Carolina and U.S. voters for decades, died at 1:15 a.m. Friday in Raleigh, according to John Dodd, president of the Jesse Helms Center.
ANNIE LENNOX JOINS LATEST RUMOR MILL ON QUANTUM OF SOLACE THEME SONG
With recent rumors swirling around Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Jack White and Duran Duran, now you can add Annie Lennox to the mix of artists who will potentially lend vocals to the theme of the 22nd and latest James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.”
NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT TO HELP SAVE GAS?
Retiring Sen. John Warner (R-VA) has a rather stupid idea to help save costs. By adding another band-aid to our addiction to oil, by creating a national 55mph speed limit, instead of creating real change.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
(yes. for humor’s sake, I’ve got Buchanan on top)
Vicepresidents.com: With Dick Cheney’s daughter, Mary, openly gay, can America’s first openly gay VEEP be far behind? Last year a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans would vote for a gay person running for President. We’ll assume those numbers would hold for the office of VEEP…
…Though don’t bet the farm just yet that Hillary, Barack, John or Mitt are gonna hook up with an openly gay running mate later this year — especially Republicans McCain and Romney.
What most Americans probably don’t know is that the country may have had at least one gay VEEP already,William Rufus deVane King.
King, the nation’s 13th VEEP, served a brief 45 days in office during the spring of 1853 (under the administration of Franklin Pierce) before dying of tuberculosis.
But it was King’s relationship with Pierce’s White House successor, James Buchanan, which provided grist for the gay gossip mill. King and Buchanan shacked up together for fifteen years prior to Buchanan’s presidency, prompting speculation in the press as to the nature of their relationship. Andrew Jackson referred to King as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy,” while Buchanan’s equally snide Postmaster General, Aaron V. Brown, alluded to the two as “Buchanan and his wife.” Buchanan is the only American president never to marry.
Fueling further gay speculation was the fact that Buchanan’s and King’s nieces curiously destroyed their uncles’ correspondence, though at least one surviving letter has Buchanan writing of his “communion” with King. In 1844, after King left for France, Buchanan wrote, “I am now ‘solitary and alone,’ having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any of them.”
Buchanan’s relationship with King has led some authors and historians, including Texas Christian University’s Paul F. Boller, to speculate that Buchanan was “America’s first homosexual president.” It follows, therefore, that King was quite possibly America’s first gay VEEP.
Weekend America: William Rufus DeVane King was a man born to be vice president. And he was born at a time when that wasn’t necessarily an insult.
In the middle of the 19th century, the vice president was expected to run the Senate, providing a steady hand, maintaining civility and keeping the legislative process flowing. In years of service as a lawmaker and a diplomat, King had earned a reputation as a modest and reasonable guy. He was well-liked, accommodating, not interested in glory or fame. In essence, he was a perfect vice president.
And King really wanted the job.
So, in 1852 he gets on the ticket with Franklin Pierce. They’re marching toward an easy victory, but meanwhile, King starts coughing. A lot. By the time they win, King is coughing all the time.
Anyone who’s ever watched a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel can guess what comes next. King heads down to Cuba, hoping a little tropical air will help out his consumption. It doesn’t.
Out of respect for King — knowing full well where this whole thing is going — Congress passes a one-time-only law that allows the vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. In a somber ceremony, William Rufus DeVane King becomes the 13th vice president of the United States.
A month later he’s dead, and John Breckenridge becomes the 14th.
Now there’s another interesting historical footnote on King. He and future president James Buchanan were roommates for 15 years. One of several facts that have prompted some historians to propose that the two men were America’s first gay vice president and president, respectively. The press at the time wrote articles speculating about it. Both men’s relatives suspiciously burned all correspondence between the two. The post master general used to call the pair “Buchanan and his wife.” And Andrew Jackson called King “Miss Nancy.” Really.
But we will never know for sure.
And at least one historian says that Andrew Jackson called a lot of people Miss Nancy.
This must be the worst interview ever. Deborah Solomon of the New York Times Magazine interviewed Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who’s supposedly being considered for the VP spot on a McCain presidential ticket.
Anyone worth their two cents of political knowledge knows that he’s not and McCain would be completely insane to put a well-groomed, overly-tanned bachelor on the ticket, especially when its widely rumored that Crist is gay. With McCain already having problems with the base of the GOP, it would be political suicide for him to put Charlie Crist on the ticket. Nonetheless, Solomon punts some pretty softball questions to the Charlie, but puts in a nice gay terrorist fist-jab at the end. It’s almost comical.
And now, for your reading pleasure, the lamest attempt at journalism ever:
As the popular governor of Florida and a Republican known for supporting relatively progressive causes, you are often mentioned as a possible running mate for Senator McCain. It’s been said that you could deliver Florida for him in the November election and lend him some overall centrist appeal. It’s very flattering that people would even consider that a notion.
Is it fair to describe you as socially progressive? I think it is fair to describe me as a common-sense Republican.
Which implies that some Republicans lack common sense. That’s possible.
You have supported stem-cell research, unlike most Republicans. I do support that. I think it is common sense to pay attention to what is happening in science. My father is a physician, my sister is a physician and I try to be enlightened on things that might extend and create productive life.
This Wednesday, you’ll be hosting your annual climate-change summit meeting in Miami, and you have already signed an executive order to reduce the state’s greenhouse-gas emissions, which is not a traditional Republican goal. Yes, but it should be, in my view, much in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt. Here’s a guy who founded our national parks system and obviously cared about the environment and preserving it.
But didn’t he shoot elephants and other big animals? Yes, he did that too. Being a hunter and being a conservationist are not mutually exclusive.
One of your first acts as governor was signing a bill requiring paper receipts on electronic voting machines. You know who convinced me of that? Congressman Robert Wexler, the great Democrat of Southeast Florida.
Your predecessor as governor, Jeb Bush, was content to have touch screens with no receipts. My view of it is, my goodness, you go to an A.T.M. machine, you get a receipt. You go to a grocery store, you get a receipt. Why not have a paper record for the most precious thing we do as citizens?
Where were you during the Florida recount of 2000? I was on the ballot in 2000. I ran for education commissioner that year. And won. No recount!
The novelist Carl Hiaasen has publicly asked that you excuse yourself from the vice-presidential sweepstakes, since you have been governor for only 17 months and haven’t accomplished much, in his estimation. I appreciate his counsel.
If you became vice president, he wrote in The Miami Herald, you would be better remembered for your tan than for your leadership. I hear that too. And that’s also very flattering.
I trust you use self-tanning lotion and stay out of the sun. No. It’s the sun. And it’s my heritage. I’m of Greek descent.
What was your family’s original name? Cristodoulos. My father changed it when he was in high school.
Your personal life is not that of a typical Republican candidate. For starters, I hear you’re not a property owner. It is true. I do not own property. I just never found a need for it. Now I have the Governor’s Mansion, and I rent a condo in St. Petersburg.
You were married nearly 30 years ago, but the marriage lasted less than a year. Do you prefer living alone? I got married and divorced because it didn’t work out. I haven’t found the right one since. It’s really that simple.
You can’t find one woman in all of Florida? Maybe I have. Stay tuned.
Do you have any advice for your fellow Republicans in the meantime? Just lead with common sense. Do what you think is right. And treat others well.
I’ve got the say… I laughed out loud when Crist revealed the only song he can play on the piano…. is Midnight Cowboy. Wow.
As I first reported a couple of weeks ago, former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle is going to work for Obama.
She’ll be “chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate – whoever he (or she) will be, campaign officials said,” Nagourney reports.
Though this will stir speculation that she’s paving the way for Hillary, but it actually makes me think the opposite. Clinton fired her in February, and many of her backers view Solis Doyle as a bit of a traitor for having signaled that she’d move to Obama before the primary was over.
But she adds a prominent female, Hispanic face to Obama’s senior staff, and has a major role, if an ambiguous one: It’s not exactly inside the Obama inner circle, and a running mate may also want to bring in his or her own people.
The Hill: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “would be far and away the best candidate” to appear on the Republican presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
Gingrich, who appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” heaped praise upon the former congressman, saying that he is a “spectacular” governor and predicted that Jindal would be a presidential candidate in the future.
MSNBC’s First Read: So you think you know who’s on Obama’s veep short list? Well, think again. According to sources on the Hill, Obama veep vetters — specifically Jim Johnson and Eric Holder — have been asking Dem members of Congress this week their input about potential running mates. The conversations are free-flowing but one name the vetters are inserting in the conversations is one that is not a household name… Ret. Gen. James Jones, the former Marine-turned-NATO Supreme Allied Commander. …
Besides Jones, the other names on the list bandied about with congressional Dems include (and not in any order): Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Evan Bayh, Kathleen Sebelius, Ted Strickland, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Tom Daschle, and Sam Nunn. You’ll notice a few names NOT on this list (that’s not my exclusion — hint hint). Besides Jones, I’m told the two other names that invited extended discussion were Biden and Strickland.
* * *
The Huffington Post recently published profiles on two of the top names on the list: Jim Webb and Kathleen Sebelius. For more on Obama’s veepstakes, check out HuffPost’s rundown list of the pros and cons of the potential vice president candidates.
The Washington Post‘s Jonathan Capeheart warns of the potential trouble with an Obama-Nunn ticket, seen as a significant problem with gay fundraisers over Nunn’s involvement in the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell controversy in 1993.
When Bill Clinton sought to keep his 1992 campaign promise to end the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, he met strong resistance in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. Nunn, one of the most adamant opponents, led a series of hearings that were stacked against ending the prohibition. Critics noted that Nunn held more hearings about and spent more time on gays in the military than he had on the defense budget or even the Navy’s Tailhook sexual harassment scandal.
Already, the prospect of an Obama-Nunn ticket does not sit well with some prominent gay Democratic fundraisers. “It would without question irrevocably diminish my enthusiasm for the democratic ticket,” a longtime Clinton supporter told me in an e-mail. “Sam Nunn not only opposed [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s] rights to serve in the military, he viciously campaigned against it.”