When 40,000 or so Republicans converge on Tampa next August for a weeklong party, they are bound to donate a significant amount of cash from their family values campaigns to the single mothers who populate the local adult scene. Conventions and illicit sex seem to go together no matter the political party; a study out of Baylor University found that the last time Democrats and Republicans met separately for their 2008 national conventions, the number of ads for escorts on Craigslist.org and Eros.com — the virtual street corners and bus stops of modern call girls — increased in both host cities by 30 percent.
Tampa's adult business owners are already planning ways to attract some of the millions of dollars the convention will pump into the economy.
The owner of The Penthouse Gentlemen's Club, DeWayne Levesque, has remodeled the club to include an executive suite that sits up to 20 people. Along with the club's Sky bar, which can be rented out for larger parties, both areas are designed to offer privacy for high-profile clients who do not want to be recognized or bothered.
Another local adult entrepreneur who operates several porn and erotic webcam sites has plans to offer conventioneers a limo service that includes the company of X-rated models.
A huge reason Tampa is known for its strip clubs is the high profile of infamous political troublemaker Joe Redner and his all-nude strip club, Mons Venus. Redner, who has survived all the ups and downs of the local adult industry, has no plans to change his business strategy to capitalize on conventioneers.
"I might put out a welcome mat," Redner says. "Maybe a sign that says, 'You're human, too. Don't fight your urges.'"
Redner admits that he does not have much experience with national political conventions, but from what he has heard, his club should do as well during the RNC as it does when the Super Bowl is in town.
"Republicans are human beings, too," Redner says. "If they are not all gay, I think they will come in, at least the single ones."
Read more at Huffington Post, where Christina Wilkie teamed up with Shawn Alff for a more extensive report on RNC 2012 and the adult industry.
