Good to know:
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/...
Gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Rauner has taken exception to comparisons to Mitt Romney, but there’s no mistaking the Republican has a different lifestyle than many of the people in Illinois he’s trying to represent.
Rauner told reporters from the Chicago Sun-Times and other news outlets that he belongs to an exclusive wine club that costs at least six figures to join. The wine club membership drew headlines when the Chicago Tribune made reference to the membership in a story over the weekend about Rauner’s relationship with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. (Emanuel is backing incumbent Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn for re-election.)
“I have many investments and I am a member of many clubs,” Rauner said Tuesday. When asked if he was saying “yes,” to the question about the wine club membership, the candidate responded in the affirmative.
Lis Smith, a consultant to the Democratic Governors Association, tweeted Rauner’s admission reminded her of Romney’s awkward references to his personal wealth in the 2012 presidential campaign. - USA Today, 9/2/14
Here's how the exchange went down:
http://politics.suntimes.com/...
From today's news conference where Rauner announced his Veterans for Rauner Coalition:
Q: Do you belong to a wine club that costs $100,000 to be a member of?
RAUNER: (Laughs) I have many investments and I am a member of many clubs.
REPORTER: So that is a yes?
RAUNER: Yes.
At the close of a question and answer session, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., made light of the wine comment, remarking: "I want one of those bottles." - Chicago Sun-Times, 9/2/14
Here's a little more info:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
NVR is run by winemaker H. William Harlan, also known by the more-pedestrian handle "Bill Harlan" when talking to the press -- as demonstrated when he was profiled by Worth.com, a site that "addresses the relevant financial, legal and lifestyle issues unique to high net worth individuals" like yourself. According to Worth's Karen MacNeil, NVR is one of Harlan's several successes, in which "more than 600 members have each paid a $150,000 initiation fee to join, affording them, among other privileges, the right to buy the wine." Ha ha some right! "Look, if you give me $150,000, I will let you buy some of this wine." Well, hell, can't pass up a deal like that. Sign me up.
While Rauner said he belongs to the club, it's not clear if it's NVR -- or what he might have paid for that membership. As Worth dot com notes, Rauner was also a silent partner in Harlan's first investment in vineyard property in Napa Valley. Perhaps his investment in land that Worth (the site) says could have been worth (the noun) somewhere in the neighborhood of nine figures meant he was grandfathered in.
An aside: Here is Rauner at the New Trier Republican Organization's 2013 Wine and Cheese Party, making the case for his candidacy. We do not know what type of wine Rauner and company enjoyed -- NVR members get to create their own labels for their wines, offering a great campaign branding opportunity! -- but we do know that the gentleman sitting behind Rauner appears to have had too much of it. - Washington Post, 9/2/14
If you would like to defeat this year's Mitt Romney, click here to donate and get involved with Governor Pat Quinn's (D. IL) re-election campaign:
https://www.quinnforillinois.com/