'Crist is Gay' Rumors Make Appearance (And It's Just Day 2)

It didn't take long for the "Charlie Crist is gay" rumors to make their way into the storyline of this U.S. Senate campaign.

Yesterday, of course, Crist entered the U.S. Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Mel Martinez, and was quickly endorsed by GOP power-brokers. Today is day two, and the DailyBeast's Reihan Salam has already authored a blog mentioning the rumors that Crist is gay.

These rumors have been around for a long time, but for obvious reasons, are seldom mentioned. But it now seems they may become part of the storyline of this campaign.

In fairness, Salam makes some substantive points, and notes the real reasons conservatives are opposing Crist (which, by the way, have nothing to do with his sexual preference). As Salam writes,

Crist is not a conservative. With his permanent tan and slick white mane, he's more like a kinder, gentler Latin American caudillo, who wants nothing more than to be cheered on by adoring throngs. Crist would be right at home with Juan and Eva Peron, dancing the night away and promising free T-bone steaks to the impoverished masses. As governor, Crist has enjoyed tremendous popularity-he has Obama-like job-approval numbers-and he's done it by hardly ever making tough calls.

It should be noted that conservatives are not the ones who have been pushing 'Crist is gay' angle.

Liberal blogger Markos Moulitsas yesterday blogged this: "So the closeted Crist is about to get the Specter treatment ..."

It was MSNBC's Chuck Todd who first publicly questioned whether or not Crist's marriage was a marriage of convenience, when -- during an MSNBC segment regarding bias against unmarried political candidates -- he joked of Crist's engagement, saying: "... After Friday, the engagement might be off if he's not the running mate."



Todd was obviously telling an inside joke that political junkies watching (and his fellow panelists) clearly got.

Again, as far as I know, conservatives are not pushing this issue (Kos is a liberal, Todd is certainly not a conservative -- and Salam is not thought of as being especially conservative), but it is predicable they will be blamed if it becomes an issue. At least, for now, Salam has mentioned the elephant in the room ...