Naked politics, free market job creation on display in Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. -- Candidates talk about the importance of transparency, but this week at Deja Vu Tampa, the prancing patriots practice what they preach.

Welcome to the Republican National Convention 2012 as filtered through a lens of Tampa's active adult nightclub subculture. Deja Vu Tampa is a nude club on Adamo Drive that has fully embraced the lucrative potential of the GOP's big week.

While Hurricane Isaac has been garnering most of the headlines, the club has added dancers from throughout the region to keep up with the demand.

Cynics might wonder aloud whether clean-living, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his health-conscious running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, were casting as great a spell on the party faithful as they might think.

Politics is one thing. When on the road, political delegates of every stripe like to party with the skinny girls.

Deja Vu management last month augmented its website with a straightforward pitch to flag-saluting Republicans and the dancers willing to travel from distant states to lobby them for tips.

Lest you think management's priorities are not in keeping with the GOP's stated values, the club's ad features a dark-haired maiden wrapped in the Stars and Stripes.

Deja Vu's pitch reads, "Republican National Convention - Make Big Money!!!"

At this point, Democrats would say that making "big money" is always the best way to get a Republican's attention.

But read on:

"Attention entertainers! You have an opportunity to make BIG MONEY during the Republican National Convention. The 2012 Republican National Convention will take place in Tampa Bay, Florida from August 27-30, 2012, welcoming more than 50,000 convention-goers to rally support for Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. Deja Vu Tampa needs to have as many Showgirls as we can fit in the club to keep up with the demand for beautiful girls from the Republican convention!!!"

Jazmin, who works the door, says the week's theme is All-American: red, white, blue and scantily clad. And each dancer is a certified small-business woman, an entrepreneur in 4-inch heels.

While the weather has been mixed, conventioneers are known to brave gale force winds to catch a glimpse of paradise; and I'm not talking about the low-tax libertarian kind featured in Ayn Rand novels and Paul Ryan speeches. (Although, come to think of it, the girls are versed in the law of supply and demand.)

While 25 dancers are usually on duty, the flow of curious conventioneers is expected to create the need for double that number, Jazmin says.

In keeping with the convention's patriotic theme, Jazmin says the girls of Deja Vu will be "wearing patriotic colors and stuff like that." That is, until they're wearing their birthday suits.

But the All-American party doesn't stop there. Organizers will offer prizes to customers who most closely resemble Romney, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Personally, I'm holding out for the Madeleine Albright look-a-like contest, but that's just me.

For operations whose employees reveal so much, several club officials were hesitant to admit the convention was even in town despite all their websites and signage.

While no one doubts the strippers work hard for the money, other club officials I spoke with on Wednesday reported their best marketing efforts had failed to spark a dramatic increase at the cash register. Republicans are known as the party of business, but could they be all business?

"Business has been about the same," Barbie of Scores Gentleman's Club says.

Tips are steady, she says, but nothing great, and the cabaret's 40 dancers aren't breaking a sweat.

Tampa most certainly is trying to put its most alluring face forward for 50,000 visitors whose appetites might not be entirely sated by the standard political fare. No offense, Gov. Chris Christie.

That, of course, makes me wonder why Las Vegas, with its veritable cornucopia of entertainment choices, still can't get enough love from the major political parties to land a national convention. If it's skinny girls the Democrats and Republicans want, we have them in exceeding abundance.

Meanwhile, Jazmin is more than happy to extol the virtues of her colleagues at Deja Vu, where customers can get an up close gander at a nude woman but can't get a draft beer. (It turns out local politicians from Vegas to Tampa believe the heart of the male of the species cannot withstand the stress of the sight of a nude woman and a cold beer.)

Still, the girls are on duty.

And while some people claim Romney lacks a clear vision to lower unemployment, it sounds like the RNC is already putting at least a few more folks back to work.

Expect the Democrats to try to take credit for the jobs plan at their convention in Charlotte, N.C. 

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith. Follow him on Twitter @jlnevadasmith.