Greetings from Florida, where our governor, Charlie Crist, has just announced his plans to wed his girlfriend of nine months. Crist, who is 51 years old, has been single for the past 30 years. His first marriage ended after less than a year, giving way to a three-decade-long stint as a bachelor. His fiancé, Carole Rome, 38, is the president of (no kidding) a Halloween costume business.

Why does any of this deserve your consideration? Well, timing, for one thing. It's no secret that Crist is on McCain's short-list for Vice President, and, oddly, marital status seems to be something of a sticking point in the race to be number 2. In fact, America has not had an unmarried Vice President since 1852, when Franklin Pierce gave the nod to William King.

No date has yet been set for the wedding, and while the sound of church bells setting the mood for the Republican Convention in St. Paul may simply be a coincidence, some wonder if this marriage itself is not, in some ways, its own kind of costume.