wealthy business executives eye political races

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CEO_CANDIDATES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-09-16-01-11-44

CHICAGO (AP) -- He has never been elected to anything, not even "student council in high school," as he boasts. He has little patience for schmoozing. In dealing with people, he admits to being "pretty blunt" - more suited to running a large private equity firm, which Bruce Rauner did successfully for 30 years, than seeking votes for governor, which he intends to do in Illinois next year.

But the traits that might once have made Rauner a bust in politics are beginning to look like possible assets for a Republican in Illinois and for underdogs elsewhere across the increasingly polarized American political landscape. With three quarters of the states now dominated by one party or the other - the highest ratio in recent history - candidates from the other side often seem to have little chance on election day. In this environment, a handful of outsiders are gambling that the time is ripe for challengers who can break out of normal party mold.

Instead of political skills or experience, they have chutzpah - and a lot of money.

"I come from business. I don't come from the political world, so I call it as I see it. And I think we need a lot more of that down in Springfield," Rauner, a Republican, declared to an audience of businessmen in overwhelmingly Democratic Illinois. "I can't be bribed. I can't be intimidated."


***because there is some shortage of wealthy people telling the rest of us how to live and spend our tax dollars?

[wilt the stilt]

1. haven't we seen this before

wealthy venture capitalist(Mitt Romney) thinks he can govern. I'm sure he was born wealthy because there is no mention of his upbringing in wikipedia. go away and leave us alone.