Answer: not much.

The big news out of the trip heralded in a news release from the Governor’s Office last year – and the only point Crist mentioned to me when I asked him last week about results of his travels – was that Spanish solar energy company Renovalia would consider building a Florida plant.

Renovalia and Tampa-based Seminole Electric Cooperative signed an agreement to discuss that possibility.

Today those discussions don’t appear to have gone very far.

The formal agreement expired in December, and the two companies didn’t bother to extend it, though talks are still “ongoing,” said Seminole Electric spokeswoman Michele Collet Kriz.

And this man wants to be our next US senator? Can you say, junket??

By Lorna Bracewell
PoHo contributor

This just in from Securing Our Children’s Rights (SOCR), a Tampa-based lobbying group organized to secure, protect and preserve equal rights for children of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents in Florida:

Securing Our Children’s Rights, Inc. (SOCR), is pleased to announce HB 3 – Adoption, for the 2010 legislative session, introduced by Representative Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, that is a full repeal of Florida’s ban on adoption by its gay and lesbian citizens. Senator Nan Rich has a companion bill in drafting at this date.

Governor Crist has declared Wednesday, July 22, 2009 as Explore Adoption Day and we must contact Governor Crist and the legislature to Explore Adoption by repealing the ban.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
WHO: Governor Charlie Crist (850) 488-7146 or email to Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com

House Speaker Larry Cretul 850-488-1450 or 352-873-6564 or email to Larry.Cretul@myfloridahouse.gov

Senate President Jeff Atwater 850-487-5100 or 561-625-5101 or email to atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov

Your Florida Representative – www.myfloridahouse.gov

Your Florida Senator – www.flsenate.gov

THE ASK:
Please ask the Governor to support the repeal of the adoption ban on gay Floridians and ask him to encourage the legislative leadership to pass the repeal.

Please ask the House Speaker and the Senate President to support the repeal and encourage Committee hearings for the bills.

Please ask your representative and senator to support the repeal, and to become a co-sponsor.

Here are your fun facts and talking points, courtesy of SOCR:

(1) Florida’s gay adoption ban was passed in 1977 at the height of Anita Bryant’s anti-gay “Save the Children” campaign. This law has done significant damage to children in foster care by not allowing the best interest of the child to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Curtis Peterson, the lead Senate sponsor, said upon passage of the ban, “We’re trying to send [homosexuals] a message. We’re really tired of you. We wish you’d go back into the closet.”

(2) Destructive impact on children – over 4,500 children languish in Florida’s foster care system today. The adoption ban arbitrarily excludes hundreds, if not thousands, of potential parents based solely on the irrelevant criteria of sexual orientation. These adults could provide stable, loving, PERMANENT homes to many of these children if this ban were lifted.

(3) In 2003, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a research study, stating, “reality on the ground is outstripping the pace of the debate. That is, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are becoming parents and are living as families every day, irrespective of what the policymakers do or say.”

(4) There is no credible scientific evidence that the sexual orientation of parents has any effects either on the quality of parenting or on the well-being of their children. In fact, the reliable social scientific evidence indicates that lesbian and gay parents are as fit, effective and successful at parenting as their heterosexual counterparts. (See American Academy of Pediatrics February 2002 Policy Statement, Vol. 109, No. 2, pp. 341-344)

(5) At least eleven (11) mainstream child welfare, social science, and professional organizations have issued policy statements SUPPORTING adoption by lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people:

Child Welfare League of America
American Bar Association
American Medical Association
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychoanalytical Association
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Psychological Association
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
National Association of Social Workers
North American Council on adoptable Children

(6) Decades of research indicate that optimal development for children is based not on the sexual orientation of the parents, but on stable attachments to committed and nurturing adults. Children with two parents, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation, do better than children with only one parent. (American Psychiatric Association 11/2002 policy statement)

(7) Adoption decisions should be based on an individualized assessment of what is in the best interests of the child to be adopted. Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their ability to successfully parent a child in need of family membership and not on irrelevant considerations such as sexual orientation.

(8) Regardless of what policy makers do or say, gay Floridians are raising children and legal protection is necessary for these children. Families have been created by adopting in other states, artificial insemination, previous heterosexual relationships and family tragedies such as the death of a sibling.

(Full Disclosure: Lorna Bracewell is a human rights activist and founder of ImpACT, a gay-rights advocacy group and social network.)

At least, that is what the Rush & Molloy gossip column in the New York Daily News is calling him. The paper on Sunday reveals that a prostitute hired by former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer now says he was not her only gubernatorial fuck buddy. There was (as they say) another, an out-of-state date for the “high-priced escort:”

[Annie, the prostitute's pseudonym] contends that, in the spring of 2006, [madam Kirstin] Davis’ agency booked her for an out-of-state date with a man identified as “Michael.”

“He picked me up in an Italian sports car,” says Annie. “He was in his 30s, handsome enough to be an actor, an impeccable dresser. I wouldn’t think he’d have a problem getting girls.

“We went to a restaurant where the governor was dining at another table with two or three other men. Michael said the governor was a client of his. He introduced me to him. I thought it was odd that he’d introduce someone he’d hired, but the governor was very gracious. It was a brief meeting. Later, Michael and I went to an apartment our agency kept. We had sex.

“A couple of days later, Michael booked another appointment. He was supposed to come to the same apartment. I buzzed him in. When I opened the door, it wasn’t Michael. It was the governor. He was smiling. I knew what was happening. I was okay with it.

“He was a very standard client. He didn’t take the full hour. There was no exchange of money. Michael handled the payment.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/07/19/2009-07-19_hooker_who_worked_for_kristin_davis_says_eliot_spitzer_wasnt_her_only_governor.html#ixzz0LpChwDJN

Gov. X’s press ops have denied the allegation, but you know it must be true, because Annie’s madam Kristin Davis vouched for the story, and this is Kristin’s picture from the Daily News:

Oh, and DCW is running a poll to see who you all think Gov. X is. The leading suspect as of the posting of this blog story? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.

Either way, the shadowy 527 group Don’t Bank on Sink has released an Internet ad mocking CFO and governor candidate Alex Sink’s use of state airplanes.

Watch the entire ad and learn more about who’s behind the group after the jump.

According to the Palm Beach Post, the 527 political group has a frontman, former Alachua County Republican chairman Stafford Jones. The group has not disclosed its financing, and its address is a mail drop in a Publix Shopping Center in Gainesville.

Expect more of this as Sink likely will also be slimed about her time as a top-ranking Bank of America exec, of course long before the subprime crisis and economic meltdown but that won’t stop opponents from trying to link her to the incredibly bad feelings that people have about bankers today.

Jones’ group has a second version of the ad up as well, and here it is:

The breathless recitation of right-wing talking points and multiple excuses for skipping out on her job, recited as if her inner tape-recorder were stuck on high speed, could be viewed as a slightly unhinged monologue in the Mark Sanford vein.

Then again, a breathless recitation of right-wing talking points could be just the thing her base wants to hear, and you can already imagine the scenario that’s being shaped for future campaigns: “She couldn’t stand to take part anymore in big-government Obamanomics because she’s a maverick! She’s declaring her independence!”

Never mind that Alaska has been lapping up government welfare for years; suddenly when her erstwhile Democratic opponent was doing the doling out, the money was tainted. And no matter that she’s declaring her independence from a job the voters expected her to complete; she doesn’t play by those conventional rules, people!

See video of the conference after the break. Be sure to hang on for the basketball metaphors.

After my brief, stolen moment with Governor C. at the charity fashion show, my life returned to its usual mundane routine. I was a nobody. Why would C. even remember me?

So when I answered my cell phone after class Monday afternoon, I was astonished to find myself on the line with C.’s assistant. Apparently, the Governor had been impressed by me and wished to meet me under better circumstances, and would I be available Friday night? I would. I was instructed not to tell anyone the Governor and I would be meeting, nor was I told where the meeting would take place.

The week passed by me as I sat through my USF classes, unable to concentrate, my entire attention on C. What should I wear? Where would we meet? Was it a date? But the biggest question I had was, why me?

Finally at eight o’clock on Friday night, I stood on the stoop of my apartment building, in a black dress pilfered from my older and more fashionable sister Fate’s closet, and held my breath in anticipation.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the scene, accompanied by a loud noise and gusting wind. I didn’t know what to secure first, my hair or my skirt. So I halfheartedly tried to catch both while managing to hold neither, as a shiny, black helicopter descended in front of me.

C. stepped down, wearing a white shirt and a tailored navy blue suit, looking as dashing as when I had first laid eyes on him. “I hope you don’t mind I took the chopper. I wanted to be discrete.” He laughed a little as he took in the sight of a helicopter on my lawn. “But I guess that didn’t quite work out.”

As we lifted off, C. handed me a champagne flute. “Cheers. Here’s to an enjoyable evening.” I sipped my champagne as I glanced out the window and caught a view of my apartment complex getting smaller beneath me.

We landed. Descending the mini-staircase, I saw where C. had brought me. The distinctive glass roof of the Florida Aquarium arched in front of me. “I got them to open it. Just for us,” C. whispered, holding the door for me as we entered the vast, darkened building. We were alone, except for the sleeping stingrays.

C. and I began to talk, getting to know each other as we walked through the artificial recreation of a natural wetland, our footsteps echoing down the empty corridor.

“I don’t know, I guess I always liked it,” C. mused, “being a politician. It was always something I wanted to do.” A white egret ruffled its feathers and yawned as we passed. “Ever since I was a little boy. I saw my own father run for office. I helped him by waving signs by the side of the road, and I loved it. Every minute of it. I’d watch my dad and it kind of made me think, ‘I want to do that. I want to run for office.’

“And you know, when you’re a little boy, you see the show, but you don’t see the business. So I thought it just meant going around and talking to a lot of people, which looked like fun. I didn’t realize the hard work that went along with it. It’s silly, but I thought the job of politician was just someone who shook people’s hands and asked them to vote for you.

“But I learned more, I learned the law, and I realized it was something I loved on a deeper level. I just love people, you know? I want to see them treated fairly. And if I can govern them fairly, I think I’ve done my job.” C. spoke from the heart, so unlike the pandering of most professional politicians, telling people what they wanted to hear, devoid of any real meaning or feeling. I could tell that C. meant every word, that he wasn’t just trying to win my vote.

“Anyways, that’s my rambling little speech for the evening,” he said sheepishly. “I’m probably boring you. You don’t want to hear me talk business like that.”

“No, C. It’s interesting. I care.”

He stopped. “Really?” he asked sincerely as he looked at me. “You’re the first woman who’s ever said that to me.”

He gave me a little smile, as we continued walking the maze-like halls of the Florida Aquarium. I felt at ease with C., as if I could open up to him and tell him anything. I revealed so much to him about myself, more than I could have with anyone else. I found myself telling him things I wouldn’t even tell my best friend, despite having just met him. I felt safe, comfortable, as if I had known him my whole life.

My attraction to him grew with each step we took, walking deeper and deeper into the aquarium as the pathways grew darker and darker. Never in my life had I found myself so attracted to a man. His scent. His tan. His moderate politics. I was nineteen, and I had never been this close to a man before. A real man, in every sense of the word. It stirred something inside of me that had lain dormant for so many years, something I didn’t know I could be a polite girl and still feel. He could have conquered me, all of me, right then and there. But proof he was a gentleman, he didn’t.

Finally, we found ourselves in a cavernous empty room, illuminated only by the faint aqua glow of a giant fish tank in lieu of one wall. We stood in front of the glass, the light filtering through the tank dancing in blue-green ripples against the room and playing across our skin.

“The manatees were always my favorite animal.” He was whispering. “When I’d go fishing with my dad on Sundays in the Tampa Bay, we’d almost always see at least one or two.”

I could feel the governor’s eyes on me as I watched the silvery fish swim by. We stood so close together, yet without touching. My skin prickled with delight as I felt proximity of his body. I looked up at him.

“I know they’re not as lucky as dolphins, but they’d always seem to be guiding us, blessing us. And..” He trailed off as he looked into my eyes. “And…”

And he leaned in and kissed me. Gently. On my lips. Without warning, his tan lips pressing themselves against mine.

He pulled back, worriedly gauging my reaction. I smiled. He touched his hand to my cheek and kissed me again. I relaxed into it, as if kissing the 51-year-old governor of my home state was completely natural. He was incredibly good at it, and I found him to be very not gay.

”I can’t believe I’m making out with the governor!” I thought.

“Believe it,” C. said.

I was amazed that we were already so in tune with each other that he could read my thoughts, until I realized, embarrassingly, that I had been thinking out loud.

“I can’t believe it either,” C. said. “That I’m kissing someone as beautiful as you.” He looked at me and bit his lower lip. “Pretty good first date, huh?”

I nodded.

And we continued to kiss underneath the menagerie of silvery fish.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of the satirical romance novel, The Governor’s Mistress, by Heidi Lux. Missed the last installment? Read it here.

Artwork by Alex Doroin: escapetomars@hotmail.com

By Dan Sullivan
PoHo contributor

I love a good political scandal. There’s just something about the revelation that those we elect to office are regular human beings – susceptible to all the same temptations and lapses in judgment as the rest of us.

Naturally though, I prefer scandals that involve Democrats. The Blago scandal was one-in-a-million. And I think only the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal could top Gary Hart’s 1988 romp on a boat called “Monkey Business.”

It’s not so much fun to read about Republicans breaking their word and compromising their good morals. Especially rising stars such as South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

Sanford is exactly the kind of conservative that many Republicans have been hoping will take the reigns of the party. His political views are, in many ways, in line with those of the great Barry Goldwater. Not only did he single-handedly battle the Fed in an effort to stop Obama’s spendulus money from touching his state, but he’s against preemptive military actions, and he passes most of the conservative litmus tests – pro-life, etc. Essentially, he’s the sane version of Ron Paul.

But, as of now, it appears that dream is over for Sanford. Following his sudden and bizarre disappearance for several days from his post as governor, Sanford revealed that he had gone to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he admitted to having a year-long affair.

Even if he finishes out his term as governor, it will take considerable political skill for Sanford to make a sufficient recovery to have any real hope of running for president. Or anything else, for that matter.

That kind of skill is a rare gift bestowed only to guys like Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich – guys who still manage to remain politically relevant despite the fact that they have more skeletons in their closets than a haunted house.

The Sanford story came on the heels of the somewhat less talked-about admission of Nevada Sen. John Ensign to having an affair with a campaign staffer.

Ensign, like Sanford, was considered a star of the Republican Party until news of the affair came about. Unlike Sanford, however, Ensign is a social conservative of the evangelical mold and staunch advocate for preserving the sanctity of traditional marriage. He helped lead the charge against Bill Clinton, calling for the former president’s resignation in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal. All this, of course, makes Ensign’s affair appear to be especially hypocritical.

I’m sure many of my liberal friends will be quick to pounce on both the Ensign and Sanford stories as the beginning of the end of the Republican Party. This is nonsense of course. If the Democrats can survive Eliot Spitzer and Rod Blaojevich, the Republicans can surely survive these goofballs.

I think it’s key to point out that Sanford and Ensign both had the good sense to admit their mistakes rather than lie about them. Granted, Sanford apparently did try to cover his tracks, coming up with assorted excuses having to do with the need to unwind from the pressures of being South Carolina’s chief executive. But still, he knew the jig was up and it was time to come clean.

That’s more than Bill Clinton can say about his own response to the Lewinsky affair – lying about his actions for months before weaseling his way out of a legal mess. And Blago, to this day, claims he’s innocent of the charges for which the Illinois legislature felt there was sufficient proof to have him impeached.

Sanford and Ensign both demonstrated bad judgment. But they admitted their errors. Even Eliot Spitzer, as bad as his sins were, admitted what he did and sought forgiveness. There is something to be said for the fact that these men appear to be genuinely remorseful. Blago and Clinton could take some notes.

Love this story. Just love this story.

Soon-to-be-former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford first came up missing, then his staff explained that he was hiking alone on the Appalachian Trail, then earlier today came word she was cruising off the coast of Argentina. Now, the truth.

Yes, it’s another woman.

From CNN:

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday, amid speculation over his whereabouts for the last several days, that he has been engaged in an extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman.

“I’ve been unfaithful to my wife,” Sanford told a news conference in Columbia, the state capital. “I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina.”

His voice choking at times, Sanford apologized to his wife and four sons, his staff and supporters, and said he would resign immediately as head of the Republican Governors Association. The affair was discovered five months ago, Sanford said.

Watch the video of his admission from a live news conference after the jump:

By Heidi Lux

I did not go seeking my scandalous affair with Governor C., it found me. 

The first time I met C. was on a freezing cold February evening. The temperature had fallen to an unbelievably low 68 degrees, and I was forced to wear a t-shirt due to the extreme temperature. Fate, my older sister, had dragged me, reluctantly, along with her to a charity fashion show she was modeling in at the Vinoy in St. Petersburg.

It was a half hour drive from our apartment in Tampa. If I had known the way things were going to turn out, would I have still crossed the Howard Frankland, or would I have paused and reconsidered when I reached West Shore Plaza, stopping in the mall for some window shopping at BCBG before heading back to my mundane middle class life? I cannot honestly say whether the Destiny St. Clair I was then would have been so bold as to willingly embark upon the life I have since lived, but as I reflect now, I’m glad it all happened.

The evening’s charity was an eating disorder clinic. The ballroom was filled with socialites and models as skinny as the bulimic girls who would receive their tax-deductible generosity, throwing money at a problem they would never admit they might suffer from themselves, and a horde of local bigwigs were on hand to lend their support and publicly demonstrate their lack of superficiality for everyone else’s sake, and perhaps go home with a model or two.

I knew my way around The Vinoy; some of the beauty pageants Fate had competed in as a child had been held there, and since my mother never wanted to leave me sitting alone in the house, I would always be brought along, and would wind up being an extra hand in Fate’s preparations. Tonight was no different.  As I sat backstage helping Fate glue her false eyelashes, I overheard some of the other models gossiping.

“Yeah, right, he’s here checking out the ‘models’. I don’t buy it for a second. He’d be more interested in what we’re wearing than us!”

“Governor C. is so gay. Did you see how hot his staff is?”

I was pretty sure she was referring to his aides, so I cut in. “But he’s a Republican, and Republican men are usually better-looking. They’re so clean-cut.”

The model turned to me, annoyed by my intrusion. “His seem to be especially gorgeous, as if chosen for their good looks, and not their politics.”

“But that doesn’t mean that he’s gay.”

She took a deep breath, than explained to me as if I was a child, “Unmarried men in their fifties are either womanizers or gay.”

“But what if he’s neither? Maybe he’s just too busy to have a personal life.”

“You can’t be in here if you’re not a model,” she said with passive aggressive anger.  “You have freckles. You have to get out.” I shook my head as I made my way out the nearest exit.

I grabbed an unsatisfying small appetizer off a tray — a shrimp and phyllo dough Thai/Greek fusion spring roll, and popped it in my mouth as I headed upstairs to the mezzanine to get away from the crowd and noise.

When I wandered into the darkened corridor, I noticed one of the doors was open, letting in the cool air from the outdoors. I opened the heavy glass door further and slipped outdoors, unnoticed.  I cringed as the unbearably frigid temperatures hit me. It was barely beach weather! I leaned against a railing and stared out at the bay before me, feeling the biting breeze against my flesh. I shivered.

As I looked down at the bustling Vinoy entrance beneath me, I was suddenly aware of a presence to my left, the two of us separated only by a large stone plant holder between us.  I leaned forward, a stealthy attempt to find out who it was.

Governor C.

There he stood in a crisp white shirt, tall hand handsome, thick, dark eyebrows curled on his furrowed brow as he stared out at the boats resting in the bay, lost in thought. His silver hair sparkled in the dappled moonlight as a few strands of hair blew in the light breeze.

It was a private moment for someone who was never left alone.  He had escaped from the party, and his obligatory public appearance, and I did not want to disturb his one stolen, tranquil moment.

As I started to turn back, leaving the Governor undisturbed, my knee collided with the plant holder, and a faint pained gasp inadvertently escaped my lips. C. looked up. I had broken his trance.  He looked at me, and I trembled, and then a faint smile spread across his face, intrigued by this rogue redhead who chose to stand alone outside despite the glamorous fashion inside.

“You must be as bored as I am,” he said.

I nodded, and smiled a little, relieved he wouldn’t behead me. He leaned against the railing.

“What’s your name.”

“Destiny. Destiny St. Clair.”

I expected him to laugh at my unusual name, as most people did. I couldn’t help it if my mother was poetic with her name choices. But he didn’t laugh. He just smiled, and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Miss St. Clair,” in a sophisticated purr.

Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with feeling. It must have been his charm, a charm I suppose all great politicians posses. At that moment, I was girlishly, giddily in love with him, as if he were a movie star. Our eyes met. His brown gazing into my green, and I felt a connection, as if I had known him from a past life.

Realizing he could see me staring at him, I looked down and away, awkwardly, then muttered the first words that came to my lips.

“Unmarried men in their fifties are either womanizers or gay. Which one are you?”

“Neither, Miss St. Clair, I am neither. Merely a civil servant.” And then I sensed a pang of loneliness from him. A term full of lonely nights spent alone.

Just then a handsome, clean-cut assistant stepped outside. “There you are, Governor C. I’ve been looking all over for you. You have to make a statement for the St. Petersburg Times.”

“I’ll see you around,” C. said as he disappeared through the doorway. Even though he promised it, I doubted I ever would see him again, not in person. I would watch him on TV and remember the moment I had shared with him at The Vinoy, but it would never be more than that, a moment. Or so I thought. Little did I know I was about to receive a phone call that would change my life forever….

Stay tuned for the next chapter of the satirical romance novel, The Governor’s Mistress, by Heidi Lux. Missed the last installment? Read it here.

Artwork by Alex Doroin: escapetomars@hotmail.com

Equality Florida says:

The Gainesville Sun reports that Republican Bill McCollum is moderating his political views and appealing to the Charlie Crist voters in his run for Florida Governor. The article points out that McCollum’s support for includng sexual orientation in Hate Crimes laws and the fact that his finance chairman’s lead oppositon to Amendment 2 has drawn the ire of arch conservatives including form Christian Coalition leader Dennis Baxley.

His finance team chairman is Jonathan Kislak, who last year led a group that unsuccessfully opposed a constitutional amendment that banned gay marriage in the state. McCollum says he disagrees with his friend on that issue.

Just because some of the winger groups are “upset” at McCollum not breathing fire on stem-cell research or hate crimes or God knows what else doesn’t mean that McCollum has fundamentally changed his stripes.

He hasn’t.