Man, the comedy keeps writing itself:

Breaking news on Twitter from Politico's Mike Allen -- the 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa.

Florida has been a fiercely contested "swing state" in recent presidential campaigns, and Barack Obama's victory there in 20[08] was the Democratic Party's first since 1996.

The Politico is right--Florida is a critical "swing" state. There are some high visibility and politically strained battles going on there (I'm looking at you two, Crist and Rubio). But somehow I suspect that there was another element factored in to the choice of Tampa:

A reputation can sometimes be hard to shake and the city of Tampa has a reputation it would probably like to eliminate. For the past decade some have called Tampa the lap dance capital of the world.

Paul Allen, the founder and publisher of NightMoves magazine, says he hears about the city's reputation all the time. He believes the shear number of strip clubs in the Bay area has undoubtedly contributed to the city's rep.

"In greater Tampa Bay, I think the last count is around 56 different clubs that are adult-oriented," he said.

Another reason for the reputation is the city's role in the adult industry. "If you own a club in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and you want to book a feature (dancer) to come to your club, there's basically four people you can call. Three of those four companies are based right here in Tampa," Allen said.

You can't write comedy as gold as what the RNC does all on its own.

Image h/t Sparklepony. From our Twitter buddy Greg Sargent:

Top right wing blogger Erick Erickson of RedState.com is now calling for conservatives to stop giving money to the NRSC over the endorsement of Crist, who is running against conservative former House Speaker Mark Rubio.

Erickson denounced the NRSC’s decision to endorse Crist as “wholly unacceptable,” adding: “If the NRSC thinks this is smart, we must not waste our time or energy with them. Join me in pledging no money, no help, no aid, and no support for the NRSC’s efforts in the 2010 election cycle.”

Bwa ha ha. We love it when Republicans fight over the "soul" of their party. But right wingnut blogs aren't the only unhappy campers. St. Petersburg (FL) Times lists the reasons conservatives hate Crist:

...his strong support for President Barack Obama's nearly $800-billion stimulus package; his appointment in March of Judge James E.C. Perry to the state Supreme Court, despite opposition from the National Rifle Association and antiabortion groups; and his lack of support for a state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

There are questions regarding Crist's sexual orientation, but frankly, I think we on the Left are wise to keep that issue off our tables. [Memo to RedState, who thought it appropriate to link Justice Souter with a certain proclivity for barnyard animals, we're better than you. Stay classy.] As a matter of policy, I don't care who a candidate wants to sleep with as long as he's meeting his obligations, particularly to those he represents. But on that score Crist is widely seen as an epic fail, and Florida's conventional wisdom is, he's running for Senate in part to escape the failures of his gubernatorial tenure. Florida Progressive Coalition blog:

If Crist has future ambitions, he has to get out from under the weight of the state’s failing political and economic system. Even a casual observer could notice that Crist has done a lot to contribute to that failure, but, because of his affable personality and a lax media, he hasn’t gotten credit [sic] where he deserves it.

Obsidian Wings: Here are a series of excerpts concerning the use of torture. See if you can guess the speakers.

Attytood: Philadelphia Inquirer is defending the the indefensible.  They've hired John Yoo to do a monthly column.

Suicide Girls: This will be the first time we are going to have a justice picked by a non-asshole since the 90’s. Let's Go Gay

Matthew Yglesias: Richard Posner throws in the towel on the conservative movement

naked capitalism: Links!

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Big Bank ltd, thump and whip, Conceptual Guerilla, Night Bird's Fountain

(Guest blogged by Logan Murphy)

Michael Collins of "The Scoop" brings us great news out of Florida.

Florida Plan Gives Citizens Real Paper Ballots

North Florida. Retired Navy aviator and veteran, Bill Faulkner, MBA, may have done the impossible. He devised a plan to return believable elections to Florida by turning optical scan forms into the ballot of record, to be counted by citizens in public areas where all can view the process taking place. This radical departure from the maze of today's computerized voting harkens back to over 100 years of U.S elections history.

Florida Gov. Crist Makes History

This is one of the most revolutionary and far reaching proposals made by a governor in years. The removal of voting rights for ex-felons, those who have served their time and returned to society, is a direct descendent of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution. This document proudly listed a variety of ways Post Reconstruction whites would remove all political power form black citizens.

NY Times:

Gov. Charlie Crist announced plans on Thursday to abandon the touch-screen voting machines that many of Florida's counties installed after the disputed 2000 presidential election. The state will instead adopt a system of casting paper ballots counted by scanning machines in time for the 2008 presidential election.

Voting experts said Florida's move, coupled with new federal voting legislation expected to pass this year, could be the death knell for the paperless electronic touch-screen machines. If as expected the Florida Legislature approves the $32.5 million cost of the change, it would be the nation's biggest repudiation yet of touch-screen voting, which was widely embraced after the 2000 recount as a state-of-the-art means of restoring confidence that every vote would count.

[..]"Florida is like a synonym for election problems; it's the Bermuda Triangle of elections," said Warren Stewart, policy director of VoteTrust USA, a nonprofit group that says optical scanners are more reliable than touch screens. "For Florida to be clearly contemplating moving away from touch screens to the greatest extent possible is truly significant."

Michael Collins of Scoop Independent News reports that the new Ohio Secretary of State (the other location of voter irregularities during 2004) will make sure that the sins of Blackwell not revisit her state again.