Roger Stone: There are a Lot of Republicans who would Walk Out if Rand Paul was the Nominee

There is an important interview with Roger Stone up at Salon. Here's Stone's take on the 2016 presidential race:

Is there anyone out there right now that you think could do what Nixon and Reagan did and unite the party’s various factions?

The party either needs to nominate an outsider like Donald Trump — a businessman, someone who’s not beholden to any particular wing — or they need to go to someone like Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, who is battle-tested and who has not only won an election but beat back a recall and an attempt to take away the state Senate and then got reelected in a tough state for Republicans. I think those are potentially among your stronger candidates.

Jeb Bush makes half the people in the party walk out; Chris Christie makes half the people in the party walk out; Rand Paul, many of whose ideas I like because I’m a Goldwater Republican … there are a lot of Republicans who would walk out if he was the nominee. You have to choose a nominee who can keep everybody on board, and I think to do that the party may have to think outside the box.

And I’m assuming we both believe Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee?

That assumes she runs. In all honesty, I think the brewing [Jeffrey] Epstein scandal is potentially extremely problematic. What exactly Bill Clinton was doing with the pedophile Epstein is going to become front and center here, perhaps in the news and perhaps in the courts. I also think the Bill Cosby scandal is bad news for the Clintons because now there will be a reexamination of the various women that I believe Bill Clinton sexually assaulted; I wrote a piece on this for the Daily Caller a week ago.

Yes, if she runs she’s certainly the odds-on favorite but I really see that as a very vulnerable candidacy. She has nothing whatsoever to say in terms of a compelling message other than “it’s my turn” and if she wants to make the raison d’être of her candidacy that she will be the first woman president… Hillary, just to be clear: you personally directed the terror campaign to silence Bill’s various victims. You hired the nasty Los Angeles private detectives Palladino and Pelicano. You are the one who arranged the threats against Juanita Broderick and others. No, Hillary Clinton has psychologically raped women on her way to power and therefore I think that rationale is very dangerous for her.

The entire interview is worth reading. It includes an extensive discussion of why he believes LBJ was responsible for the assassination of  JFK.

  -RW