Stone Cold
Back and Forth: Roger Stone
Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:45:00
Roger Stone, the self-described GOP hitman and master of the dark political arts, has surfaced again as the force behind the campaign of Kristin Davis—the Manhattan Madam, not the prostitute who called herself Kristen—for governor. Ostensibly a campaign for the legalization of prostitution, marijuana and gay marriage, Stone acknowledged that it also contains a hint of him trying to stick it to his old nemesis, Eliot Spitzer. During an interview in the lobby of his new luxury apartment building in midtown Manhattan—Stone says it is a total coincidence that Ashley Dupree used to live there—the perpetually tan operative discussed Spitzer’s new show on CNN, how he sabotaged Steve Levy’s campaign for governor, and the colorful cast gathering signatures for Davis’ campaign this year.
What follows is an edited tran scri pt.
The Capitol: How did you get involved with Kristen Davis’ campaign?
Roger Stone: We met on a radio show after Spitzer had resigned. And I just found her incredibly bright and articulate and incredibly resilient in view of what she went through. At that point I hadn’t yet heard her story and what life was like for four months. We became very good friends. We both felt strongly that the system punishes the women and not the men and the only real solution to that is legalization. Plus, she makes a very compelling case on why it would be better for the safety of the girls, why it would be better for the safety of the johns, be better for the public health.
TC: But those things are not exactly lifelong causes for you, are they?
RS: Well, that’s not true. You have to look at her entire agenda. She’s for gay marriage and I’m a Libertarian Republican, I am a Libertarian conservative. I’m old-fashioned—you live your life, I’ll live mine. I don’t think anyone should tell anyone who to marry, what to smoke, what to eat, what to drink. I’m against big government, so from that point of view I am very much in sync with Kristin Davis’ agenda.
TC: How much of this is about Eliot Spitzer?
RS: It’s not really about Spitzer at this point. She makes the case that Spitzer has set a standard—for politicians like [Hiram] Monserrate, Larry Seabrook, [David] Paterson—that regular people, who don’t have access to influential high-priced lawyers, they go to jail. It’s inequitable to think that Kristin Davis’ bail was set at $10 million when [Dupre’s pimp] Jason Itzler’s was $250,000. That doesn’t make any sense. My initial interest was sparked by the fact that I saw her in the New York Post and she was very hot and she brings two very large assets into the race, if you know what I mean. And you know, we may have to sue the broad in Sex and the City [of the same name] if she keeps getting in our way.
TC: What do you think of Eliot Spitzer getting his own show on CNN?
RS: I am surprised that CNN’s judgment is this bad, they are grasping at straws on their way down the toilet.
TC: Does it help you to have Spitzer in the spotlight, since you are seen as his foil?
RS: As long as his 15 minutes is extended, I guess Kristin Davis’ 15 minutes is extended. And I guess my 15 minutes are extended, too. I do recognize that people say this is a joke or a publicity stunt.
TC: You’re running her on the Reform Party line. At the same time, you are known for essentially destroying the Reform Party nationally by running Donald Trump against Pat Buchanan in 2000.
RS: I destroyed them as a force because they cost the Republicans the presidency twice. I stress that the name [the Reform Party] is tentative.
TC: Who is gathering the signatures for Davis’ campaign?
RS: Strippers, hookers, ex-hookers, wannabe hookers, gays, gay activists, young Republicans, Libertarians, friends of mine, friends of friends of mine, friends of hers, friends of friends of hers, swingers, people in the BDSM community, pro-marijuana activists, pot farmers, people—just people. Facebook is a wonderful thing. The internet is a wonderful thing for building an army. She has 7,000 friends on Facebook. Our goal is to have 500 people on the street with petitions. We have a coordinator for petitions in 62 counties, all done by the Internet. I don’t think anybody else could say that.
TC: At the same time as you work for Davis, it is reported that you are also working for Carl Paladino. How does that work?
RS: I openly admit I support Paladino, because I think that the party is leaving its historic conservative moorings by nominating Rick Lazio. I also think Lazio seems like a very nice fellow. But who in the world talks him into the idea of attacking Cuomo for taking money from lobbyists? In my 30 years, that’s one of the most idiotic things I have ever seen, I almost feel sorry for Rick Lazio, because it is very clear that he is the sacrificial lamb. In other words, Andrew is a candidate that he can easily beat [but] he has no access to money, he has nothing interesting to say, and on the greatest issue for Cuomo’s potential vulnerability, which was his involvement in the sub-prime mortgage program, on that issue Rick Lazio, as a member of the housing subcommittee in the U.S. congress, supported the Cuomo program. So you have two guys who when they got together almost crashed the global economy.
TC: Do you think Cuomo has any real chinks in his armor that can be exploited?
RS: I’m not involved in this race to defeat Andrew Cuomo at this juncture. My principal focus is to help Kristin Davis and her party get legitimacy, some currency, and I think it would be very difficult to catch Andrew Cuomo for a couple of reasons. First of all, the attorney general’s office lends itself to a non-ideological imagery. If you look at these polls, self-described conservatives, self-described Republicans, a plurality of them voted for Andrew Cuomo, and now that he has shifted his agenda to the right he either is or is not going to prove to be a new Democrat. If you go to Carl Paladino’s web site and go to Andrew’s web site, lo and behold, their positions on issues are now identical. He doesn’t really have to expose himself on his campaign front. And it will work until Labor Day, because we, because the Republicans are so eternally screwed up.
TC: Do you see any similarities between Spitzer and Cuomo?
RS: They have more things in common and they have some things which are quite different. They have the same anger management issues. It appears to me like Andrew is controlling his. He is not the guy he was when he ran for governor eight years ago. [He is] seasoned, thoughtful.
TC: As a longtime Republican and fellow Nixonian, how do you think Ed Cox is doing?
RS: He was right about the fact that Lazio was a stone- cold loser. Unfortunately, the solution that he reached was the wrong solution. First of all I think people should have recognized what happened at the state convention. Steve Levy needed 25 percent of the vote on the first vote, the so-called designator vote, and he got 28. He then needed 51 on the authorizing vote, he got 46. Paladino held 11 and Lazio got the rest. So Paladino could have allowed him in the primary or cut him off. So Lazio didn’t beat Steve. We beat Steve. I think Lazio is a much better one-on-one match-up for us. We were responsible for doing that.
Photo by Andrew Schwartz
What follows is an edited tran scri pt.
The Capitol: How did you get involved with Kristen Davis’ campaign?Roger Stone: We met on a radio show after Spitzer had resigned. And I just found her incredibly bright and articulate and incredibly resilient in view of what she went through. At that point I hadn’t yet heard her story and what life was like for four months. We became very good friends. We both felt strongly that the system punishes the women and not the men and the only real solution to that is legalization. Plus, she makes a very compelling case on why it would be better for the safety of the girls, why it would be better for the safety of the johns, be better for the public health.
TC: But those things are not exactly lifelong causes for you, are they?
RS: Well, that’s not true. You have to look at her entire agenda. She’s for gay marriage and I’m a Libertarian Republican, I am a Libertarian conservative. I’m old-fashioned—you live your life, I’ll live mine. I don’t think anyone should tell anyone who to marry, what to smoke, what to eat, what to drink. I’m against big government, so from that point of view I am very much in sync with Kristin Davis’ agenda.
TC: How much of this is about Eliot Spitzer?
RS: It’s not really about Spitzer at this point. She makes the case that Spitzer has set a standard—for politicians like [Hiram] Monserrate, Larry Seabrook, [David] Paterson—that regular people, who don’t have access to influential high-priced lawyers, they go to jail. It’s inequitable to think that Kristin Davis’ bail was set at $10 million when [Dupre’s pimp] Jason Itzler’s was $250,000. That doesn’t make any sense. My initial interest was sparked by the fact that I saw her in the New York Post and she was very hot and she brings two very large assets into the race, if you know what I mean. And you know, we may have to sue the broad in Sex and the City [of the same name] if she keeps getting in our way.
TC: What do you think of Eliot Spitzer getting his own show on CNN?
RS: I am surprised that CNN’s judgment is this bad, they are grasping at straws on their way down the toilet.
TC: Does it help you to have Spitzer in the spotlight, since you are seen as his foil?
RS: As long as his 15 minutes is extended, I guess Kristin Davis’ 15 minutes is extended. And I guess my 15 minutes are extended, too. I do recognize that people say this is a joke or a publicity stunt.
TC: You’re running her on the Reform Party line. At the same time, you are known for essentially destroying the Reform Party nationally by running Donald Trump against Pat Buchanan in 2000.
RS: I destroyed them as a force because they cost the Republicans the presidency twice. I stress that the name [the Reform Party] is tentative.
TC: Who is gathering the signatures for Davis’ campaign?
RS: Strippers, hookers, ex-hookers, wannabe hookers, gays, gay activists, young Republicans, Libertarians, friends of mine, friends of friends of mine, friends of hers, friends of friends of hers, swingers, people in the BDSM community, pro-marijuana activists, pot farmers, people—just people. Facebook is a wonderful thing. The internet is a wonderful thing for building an army. She has 7,000 friends on Facebook. Our goal is to have 500 people on the street with petitions. We have a coordinator for petitions in 62 counties, all done by the Internet. I don’t think anybody else could say that.
TC: At the same time as you work for Davis, it is reported that you are also working for Carl Paladino. How does that work?
RS: I openly admit I support Paladino, because I think that the party is leaving its historic conservative moorings by nominating Rick Lazio. I also think Lazio seems like a very nice fellow. But who in the world talks him into the idea of attacking Cuomo for taking money from lobbyists? In my 30 years, that’s one of the most idiotic things I have ever seen, I almost feel sorry for Rick Lazio, because it is very clear that he is the sacrificial lamb. In other words, Andrew is a candidate that he can easily beat [but] he has no access to money, he has nothing interesting to say, and on the greatest issue for Cuomo’s potential vulnerability, which was his involvement in the sub-prime mortgage program, on that issue Rick Lazio, as a member of the housing subcommittee in the U.S. congress, supported the Cuomo program. So you have two guys who when they got together almost crashed the global economy.
TC: Do you think Cuomo has any real chinks in his armor that can be exploited?
RS: I’m not involved in this race to defeat Andrew Cuomo at this juncture. My principal focus is to help Kristin Davis and her party get legitimacy, some currency, and I think it would be very difficult to catch Andrew Cuomo for a couple of reasons. First of all, the attorney general’s office lends itself to a non-ideological imagery. If you look at these polls, self-described conservatives, self-described Republicans, a plurality of them voted for Andrew Cuomo, and now that he has shifted his agenda to the right he either is or is not going to prove to be a new Democrat. If you go to Carl Paladino’s web site and go to Andrew’s web site, lo and behold, their positions on issues are now identical. He doesn’t really have to expose himself on his campaign front. And it will work until Labor Day, because we, because the Republicans are so eternally screwed up.
TC: Do you see any similarities between Spitzer and Cuomo?
RS: They have more things in common and they have some things which are quite different. They have the same anger management issues. It appears to me like Andrew is controlling his. He is not the guy he was when he ran for governor eight years ago. [He is] seasoned, thoughtful.
TC: As a longtime Republican and fellow Nixonian, how do you think Ed Cox is doing?
RS: He was right about the fact that Lazio was a stone- cold loser. Unfortunately, the solution that he reached was the wrong solution. First of all I think people should have recognized what happened at the state convention. Steve Levy needed 25 percent of the vote on the first vote, the so-called designator vote, and he got 28. He then needed 51 on the authorizing vote, he got 46. Paladino held 11 and Lazio got the rest. So Paladino could have allowed him in the primary or cut him off. So Lazio didn’t beat Steve. We beat Steve. I think Lazio is a much better one-on-one match-up for us. We were responsible for doing that.
Photo by Andrew Schwartz
