Posted on 07/03/2008 10:33:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist won't be sleeping alone in the governor's mansion much longer -- he is engaged (video: MyFoxOrlando) to a woman he met in New York City last September who quickly captured his heart.
Crist, 51, asked Carole Rome to marry him Thursday morning at his St. Petersburg apartment, giving her a blue sapphire ring surrounded by diamonds. She immediately said yes.
"I'm very happy and couldn't be more pleased. What a great way to celebrate America's birthday," said Crist, who has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. "We've been talking about it for quite a while. I asked her while we were looking out over Tampa Bay and I couldn't think of a better place to do it."
Rome, 38, is the president of Franco American Novelty Co., her family's New York-area Halloween costume company, though she stopped managing its daily business when she moved to Fisher Island near Miami in 2006. Crist said they met at a dinner where he and friends were discussing fundraising.
Asked what made him fall in love, Crist said, "Her beautiful smile, her sweetness, her brilliance -- all of it."
Crist was briefly married while in college, but was divorced in less than a year. That experience contributed to the long wait between commitments.
"It made me be very selective, candidly. Those things tend to make you gun-shy a little bit, but I'm so blessed to have found such a wonderful woman," Crist said. "It sure is great to find the right one."
The couple has been seen together frequently, from a Jimmy Buffett concert in Tampa last November to sporting events and on the campaign trail with McCain. At a Republican Party of Florida dinner last month, Crist told a crowd of 700 donors that he is lucky to have Rome in his life.
The couple is discussing a fall ceremony. Crist said the wedding will likely be a more intimate gathering in St. Petersburg followed by a larger reception at the governor's mansion.
"It will be awfully nice to have her at the mansion. It's a big place to have to be alone in," he said.
Crist took office in January 2007 and previously served as attorney general, education commissioner and in the state Senate.
Rome was previously married to Blue Star Jets president Todd Rome. She has two daughters, aged 9 and 11, but Crist said he hopes the couple has a child of their own someday.
That much I might appreciate. However his failure as a governor to enact Republican/Conservative policy puts him low on my list. His environmental initiatives are irritating and quite possibly economically destructive for Florida's future. He's been a terrible governor, without the sense to follow the basic policy of "do no harm".
We can't stand him here in SoFlo.
Hmmm. How convenient.
Oh good he must not be gay after all. That’s great he can be VP now! Yes I am stupid, why do you ask? Obvious? Like Clinton bombing Kosovo during Monica right when the movie “Wag the Dog” was out? No it’s not! He luvs the ladies!!
Crist may well be gay, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in someone who is gay “outing” him. I’ve known a lot of gay men and each and every one of them claims that anybody that they see in a gay bar is gay. Many also claim that the gay population is much higher than the absurdly high 10% number that they use.
Crist should have known that setting foot in a gay bar would set tongues wagging and hurt him going forward, gay or not.
Just what I was thinking-just in time to be selected as VP candidate, What a coincidence.
LOL McCain pro’ly told him get a beard or else.
When the stakes are high, use a professional!!!
Cheers!
Now he’s importing a New Yorker deliberately?? We have more than enough of those here!
;)
What’s his name?
As a Key West cabana boy.
Bingo!!!
The Cubans own the Miami City commission are allowing their fellow Cuban developer pals to expand further into the Everglades, in spite of restrictions on expanding westward.
In 25 years there won't be much Everglades left.
“Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Engaged”
To a woman?
“Crist should have known that setting foot in a gay bar would set tongues wagging and hurt him going forward, gay or not.”
Bingo. For a politician, only a very strong compulsion would take him into a gay bar.
If he were to be chosen, imagine how interesting this presidential election would be. Not only would the American people be asked to vote for the first black president or female commander in chief, but, at least in terms of subtext, also the first gay vice president.
I always thought Al Gore was the first gay Vice President.
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