Rich Tarrant, the weathy IDX c0-founder and, more recently, defeated Senate candidate recently spent a night at the swank Ritz- Carlton Hotel in Naples, Fla.
No surprise there. The guy is a multi-millionaire.
But what if you knew that self-proclaimed Socialist and common-man champion Senator Bernie Sanders was also there -- on the very same night.
It's true. Tarrant gave me a call Friday to spin the tale of how he and wife, along with Richard Corley and his wife, had been patrons at the $1000-a-night Ritz and that he was in the business of checking out the next morning when he recognized what he jokingly called "a ghost from my past."
Yep. It was Bernie alright. Turns out Sanders had spent the night at the very same Ritz with his wife, Jane. Tarrant tapped the Vermont junior senator on the shoulder and asked him the obvious "What are YOU doing here?" Bernie mumbled something about attending a Democratic Party function of some sort.
Next thing you know, Tarrant had persuaded Sanders to walk arm-in-arm with him out the front door in order to surprise the Corleys and Tarrant's wife, who outside waiting for Rich to catch up with them.
"Deb's jaw dropped to her belt," Tarrant said of his wife's reaction. He also reported that Sanders was a "good sport" about it all.
Turns out, according to Sanders' press spokeswoman, that Bernie was in Naples along with a half-dozen other Senators as the guests of Senator Chuck Shumer and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
Tarrant, by the way, said he's splitting his time this winter between his homes in Florida and Vermont and was in town this week. Can't stay away from his kids and grandkids, he explained.
-- Sam Hemingway
