Anyone hear a closet door slamming?

The odds that Florida Governor Charlie Crist will be nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate has just increased rather dramatically.

Crist was already a hot pick because of two factors. One is that is the governor of Florida and the Republicans need a Florida win in this race. Second, is that he represents a Southern state that is largely within the Bible belt. Republicans still want the Southern jihadist votes of the Religious Right.

But poor Mr. Crist had a major problem. He’s been battling rumors for decades much the way that Larry Craig was battling rumors for decades.

Mr. Crist had failed to marry. There was a very, very brief marriage when he was in college and nothing since then. No indication of a serious relationship on the horizon either. And there were all those stories which indicated that Mr. Crist might be gay. Crist said his lack of female companionship for three decades was due to his being selective. A lot of others were thinking there were other reasons.

Crist started being seen with this woman in recent months and just popped the question. If I were the lady in question I would have had a few questions of my own before saying yes. Crist also said they are looking at a Fall wedding --- how convenient!

The rumors going about where a bit specific. For instance, it was claimed that a Republican wannabe type, Jason Wetherington was bragging to his close friends that he was having an affair with Crist. Wetherington, who previously admitted being gay, is now on dating sites claiming to be looking for women. At a dinner party Wetherington had spoken openly about his relationship and he told the others present that Crist had a long term gay relationship with a man named Bruce Jordan, who was also a Republican campaign worker.

A woman, Dee Dee Hall, who was friends with Jordan says that she tried to set him up with a male date but that he rebuffed it at the time, telling her that he was involved with Crist. She says they discussed the fact that “Charlie was apparently having some issues with that [the relationship] and trying to keep it under wraps and just trying to deal with it in general.”

At least one other individual involved in Republican circles, Jay Vass, says that Jordan confirmed to him his relationship with Crist. Vass was a pilot who frequently flew top Republican officials around the state. In that capacity he meet Jordan who was rather open about his relationship. Vass says he also saw emails that were exchanged between the two men. Vass said, “Everybody knew that Charlie was gay and what absolutely floored me about it was they made no attempt to hide it or disguise it.”

Apparently the moral hypocrisy of the Republican Party is not going to abate. One good thing about a McCain/Crist ticket is that the rumor mills will keep us entertained. One has to wonder what the future Mrs. Crist thinks of this. Perhaps the person to ask is Larry Craig’s wife.

Photos: Left, Crist's alleged last main interest. Right, Crist's alleged current main interest.