This story says Roger Stone has expressed an intent to be the Florida Libertarian Party’s U.S. Senate candidate in 2016. The story includes Stone’s announcement.
Stone’s announcement, posted to The Examiner (linked above) by Karl Dickey:
I want to thank the many Libertarians, liberty-minded Republicans and not a few progressives who have urged me to seek the Libertarian nomination for the US Senate in 2016. As many of you know I considered running for Governor and decided that a intra-party contest would drain resources the eventual nominee would need in the general election. I am proud to have endorsed and voted for Adrian Wyllie and celebrate the fact that our nominee while underfunded worked very hard got a quarter of a million votes.
I have a book which will be the definitive expose on the Clintons in book stores Sept 1. I have a contract for a book which exposes the Bushs to publish Jan 2. The Clintons and Bushs and their parties represent the exact same pro-war, pro-debt, pro-spending, pro-spying, big government policies. If the Republican nominee is Ron Desantis and the Democratic nominee is Patrick Murphy, this will also be true of them. I would love to debate them. In truth they are identical.
I believe I could be an effective candidate for the Libertarian Party in 2016. I will adhere to whatever rules and screen process the party sets. I will campaign in every part of the state. I believe I could raise substantial funds. I know how to get press coverage.
I would run on a liberty message. I favor the repeal of the NDAA and the Patriot Act. I would reclassify marijuana and then legalize it. I would end the failed expensive war on drugs. I would oppose sending more troops to the middle east. I am not an isolationist, but I am a non-interventionist.
I will outline my own odyssey from being a Goldwater Republican and former Young Republican National Chairman and aide to two Presidents to being disgruntled Republican to being a proud member of the LP. I also am proud of my role as a Senior Adviser to Gov. Gary Johnson in our effort to get on the ballot in 48 states and our legal efforts to get the LP nominee into the Presidential debates.
Let me make clear my affection for my ex-boss President Nixon is personal and not ideological. My book on Nixon makes this clear .I have written and spoken as a critic of closing the gold window, the war on drugs and the expansion of government.
I am under contract to finish two books and will become a formal candidate later in the process. In the mean time I have asked Jo Ann Vaccarino and Alex Vidal to head an Exploratory Committee to begin planning the campaign. I will authorize this committee with the Federal Election Commission immediately
I look forward to seeing many of you in June. Live Free!
August Invictus, a young Orlando Attorney has filed with Tallahassee and the FEC to run
for U. S. Senate in 2016 as a Libertarian candidate, so there may be a primary if Roger Stone or others file as well.
I’m not sure it should be “Anybody But Stone,” but it definitely should not, under any circumstances, be Stone.
According to the BAN article on this same subject Darcy Richardson may decide to run on the Independence Party line. Many libertarians could opt for him if it comes down to a Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber race. Run Darcy, run!
Well, this libertarian would opt for Darcy in just about any race. But I’d vote for the love child of Cthulhu and Countess Bathory before I’d vote for Stone.
Yowser, Tom! Me too!
I’d vote for the love child of Cthulhu and Countess Bathory before I’d vote for Stone.
So you’d vote for Roger Stone before you’d vote for Roger Stone? I’m pretty sure Florida law only allows you to vote for him once 😛
Somehow I feel that 4 martinis and three Liberty Ales have clouded my judgment. I thought this race was for governor not U.S. Senate. Oh well… another martini without vermouth should clear thing up! 😉
Yeah, ya gotta watch that vermouth. It will get you every time.
I don’t know Stone, or his story, well enough to have a real opinion of him. But, many people that I respect have a very negative opinion of him. Nevertheless, I think a contested primary or convention is almost always a good thing for the candidates, and the party. That makes this good news in my book.
The voices in my head tryin’ their best to command me
They claim that I’m insane cause they don’t understand me
-redrum 781
A Roger Stone/Augustus Invictus debate would be hysterical.
“Roger Stone?” Surely, you mean “Jason Ranier.”
A great Martini recipe:
a double Gin,
Then call Japan airlines Japanese Corporate office and tell whoever answers ‘Son’t Think About Vermouth”.
What’s the status of Redlich’s lawsuit against Stone, has it ever been settled or adjudicated? I should probably ask on email since Warren doesn’t read the coments here very often.
It would be…interesting…if Warren primaried Stone.
Yeah, on the LPF’s Facebook group I suggested that Redlich would make a great Senate candidate.
Everything I’ve seen from Florida Libertarians is mostly supportive of Stone, and of the sentiment that he’ll do a good job (and that Invictus is an absolute lunatic). Wyllie is already backing him, for one. I’m only vaguely aware of who Stone is and his history- Nixon aide, colorful character, almost ran for Gov. in 2014, etc.- what’s the backstory here I’m missing with the hostility? Our illustrious proprietor sued Stone over something?
Andy,
In 2010, Stone ran an all-out effort to keep the New York LP from achieving permanent ballot access. He was the “man behind” Kristen Davis’s run for the LP’s gubernatorial nomination; when the LPNY chose Warren Redlich instead, Stone ran Davis under another label; he was apparently simultaneously working for a Republican candidate as well.
The thing to keep in mind about Stone is that he will always, every time, turn out to be working for the GOP. Not only does he not give a rat’s ass about the LP, he will always actively work to make it ineffectual.
Andy,
The litigation between Redlich and Stone has to do with a piece of campaign literature that Stone was behind during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, claiming that Redlich is a sexual predator.
Interesting. Thanks for the explanation. I’ll reserve judgement, but good to know.
Andy, Augustus Invictus is a young, well respected Orlando attorney who is a member of my Libertarian Party County Affiliate (Orange county, FL). I wish people who have never met and talked with him would stop with the insulting language.
I have yet to see any satisfactory explanation for his past public behavior, which can only be accurately described as insane.
I see that the insulting language is continuing.
It’s not an insult. It’s an objective description, without any personal animus at all. I simply can’t think of any other way to describe it. Can you? If there is some not-insane explanation, I really do want to hear it.
http://abovethelaw.com/2013/05/update-on-augustus-sol-invictus-now-with-video/
http://abovethelaw.com/2013/04/the-kind-of-unhinged-departure-memo-that-would-have-been-way-funnier-before-the-marathon-attack/
It’s not my fault people can search his name into Google. Do you care to actually dispute the characterization, or are you just objecting that it’s unkind?
I will let Augustus speak for himself, but many things have been taken out of context. That’s all I’m going to say on this subject.
Perhaps. I’m willing to be convinced. But until he offers that explanation, all we have is the public record, which is one of erratic and worrisome behavior, strongly indicative of mental illness. And I’m willing to give him much more benefit of the doubt than any non-Libertarian would.
Has the Florida LP been reading the Oregon LP playbook? Run Darcy, Run!
So according to Andy Craig, Wyllie supports a candidate who falsely accused a Libertarian candidate of being a sexual predator. How interesting… I wonder how Wyllie would react if Stone had made the same accusations against him.
I don’t know “Augustus Sol Invictus.” I’ve kind of assumed, from his name and from my limited exposure to his videos, etc. that his campaign is … well, performance art. Not really my cup of tea, but a thousand times preferable to Stone.
At least one of the things I read from Invictus was in full context, and I can’t imagine what kind of context would make some of the more recent statements make sense, but I’m willing to hear his side of it.
For much more on the sagas of Redlich, Stone, et al plug their names into the IPR search box and read the old stories and comments.
“At least one of the things I read from Invictus was in full context”
Got a link?
He definitely seems a little weird, even by Florida standards. Of course, I was considered weird when I lived in Missouri; now that I’ve moved down here, I seem to fit right in and maybe even be a little on the vanilla side.
I generally don’t have a problem with weird, so long as there’s real libertarianism to go with the weirdness. But I do think that there should be something in every state’s LP bylaws forbidding the nomination of anyone with a tattoo of Richard Nixon, Charles Manson or Pol Pot to public office on the LP ticket. Just sayin’ …
“So according to Andy Craig…”
I just commented that Wyllie was supporting Stone, which one can find on Wyllie’s facebook page and I believe in comments here on IPR. I’m not arguing with your characterization of that, but it’s not according to me.
Andy,
I just looked at Wyllie’s Facebook pages (both of them) and the only reference I saw to Stone was that Wyllie shared a newspaper story about his exploratory committee.
The link was already posted earlier, fully in context.
http://abovethelaw.com/2013/04/the-kind-of-unhinged-departure-memo-that-would-have-been-way-funnier-before-the-marathon-attack/2/
Other more recent stuff was posted on a prior thread, which was not all in context but would seem very hard to explain, although, again, I’m open to hearing explanation(s).
Invictus’ manifesto reminds me a bit of the opening monologue from American Psycho.
As for Stone, I’ve always found him to be a rather entertaining guy, but I certainly wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.
Yeah, I read that … but I didn’t see any “context” for it. Reads like some kind of king-hell standup routine to me. I have no idea whether it was intended to be taken seriously or not.
Augustus is pretty decent on the issues:
http://invictusforsenate.com/focal-points/
Plus, after meeting him a few times, I can certainly say he is a good guy and seemed pretty same & normal to me.
Paulie–
Warren’s lawsuit is on the pre-trial calendar.
There has been no offer to settle as far as I know.
Based on his website, Invictus does sound like a pretty solid libertarian — not quite top of the diamond on the Nolan Chart, but definitely in the libertarian quadrant. Nevertheless, I expect that these bizarre statements that he has made, regardless of what motivated them, are going to come back to haunt him during the campaign.
Of course, it’s not like Stone doesn’t have his own share of serious baggage!
In 2010, LPNY ran Warren Redlich for Governor. Warren got over 48,300 votes, just 1700 shy of 50,000 required for automatic ballot status for four years which would have saved us approx. $80,000 in petitioning costs in 2012 and 2014, as well as permitted us to run dozens (hundreds?) of local candidates in many municipal races.
At the same time that LPNY ran Warren Redlich for Governor, Roger Stone ran Kristin Davis on a new line created for that one race called the Anti-Prohibition Party. Davis got approximately 20,000 votes (she came in seventh place out of seven candidates). Obviously if at least 1/10th of the people who voted for Davis had voted for Redlich instead, we would have made the 50,000 vote threshold for automatic ballot status for the last four years.
After the 2010 election, Stone boasted on his blog that LPNY failed in its quest for ballot-status.
I tweeted a link to this story on my personal Twitter. Stone replied:
“@JedZiggler some real assholes in the comments #haters #jerk-0ffs”
Sounds like the words of someone I’d want representing me in the Senate.
Did he tweet you a dick pic too? LOL
His twitter feed is… interesting. A lot of personal attacks on the Clintons, JFK assassination stuff, some interactions with a satirical Richard Nixon account, and repeatedly noting that his uncle (Dick Stone) was a Senator. Also his campaign t-shirts will apparently bear the slogan “Everybody Must Get Stoned”
And while there might not be a dick pic, he does provide this helpful and very Senatorial tweet: “TMI at least five of Bill Clinton’s sexual assault victims describe his penis as small and twisted ”
I’m calling that close enough.
https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr
With a name like Dick Stone, his uncle should have been a porn star!
Speaking of porn, Stone also repeatedly boasts on Twitter that he has secured an endorsement from none other than Nina Hartley.
“A lot of personal attacks on the Clintons, JFK assassination stuff, […] And while there might not be a dick pic, he does provide this helpful and very Senatorial tweet: “TMI at least five of Bill Clinton’s sexual assault victims describe his penis as small and twisted ” ”
Bill Clinton and the ghost of LBJ might call him a real asshole, hater, jerkoff, much as he calls those of us in these comments.
“Speaking of porn, Stone also repeatedly boasts on Twitter that he has secured an endorsement from none other than Nina Hartley.”
That’s an interesting endorsement. Hartley is, or at least was, a lifelong active socialist.
Stone is definitely on my “if any of these people are pissed off at me, I must be doing something right” list.
“Did he tweet you a dick pic too? LOL”
Thank god no.
My lawsuit against Stone is still pending. I was up in NYC earlier this month for a brief court appearance. Things move slow and I don’t expect anything to happen for months. Obviously I oppose Stone for any office.
My gut hunch is this is just an effort to get his name in the papers to help promote his books (which do seem to be selling well). It’s a strategy his buddy Trump has used in presidential races. If I’m correct he will withdraw from consideration after he’s gotten some media attention due to other commitments (his books) and he’ll say diplomatic things about whoever the LPF’s leading candidate is.
He just played this game in 2013 for Governor: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/roger-stone-why-i-wont-run-for-florida-governor/2123241
But as always the LP is filled with the suckers born every minute that Stone excels at appealing to.
BTW Karl Dickey, who wrote the Examiner article, is pretty well respected within the LPF and he says Stone is likely to get the nod. Dickey knows exactly who Stone is. I told him in no uncertain terms and broke off all relations with Dickey and the LPF after they embraced Stone in 2012.
For those not in the loop on the LPNY experience with Stone, here’s a couple links:
1. Stone e-mails with me (and others) about his plan to use the LP to help the GOP candidate
http://wredlich.com/ny/2010/04/carl-paladino-and-roger-stone/
“Stone: 4/20, 11:21 pm: You make me question your ability to read. My first missive with you contained two cold stone facts that you took as threats. … I am highly confident Carl would see the wisdom in an alliance with you. … Beating Andrew Cuomo requires a multi-candidate race . A rock-rib Republican on the libertarian line is not good for Paladino. … Where you are wrong is in saying Carl will drop in May. You dont know Carl. He isnt a quiter. He will win the GOP primary over Lazio. The guy has giant balls and will not be stopped despite his current problems. He gets better as a candidate every day. Carl Paladino can win in my opinion. The stars have to line up. But they will.”
2. Stone’s involvement in the two campaigns (Paladino and Davis):
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/nyregion/12stone.html?_r=0
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/09/carl_paladino_t_1.php
3. The Stone/Paladino defamatory attack against me:
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/false-defamatory-lit-distributed-libertarian-warren-redlich-blog-entry-1.1681607
Warren, thanks for the updates.
IPR search results for the names you mention yield a lot more additional background info, along with the discussions in the comments. Any plans to run for office in Florida yourself?
Paulie – No plans in the near future. I’m desperately trying to spread the rumor that I’ll run for President in 2024. Eric is calling it a “high-concept” campaign. I don’t know what he means but it sounds fun.
Stone’s involvement in some ways parallels what he did in the 2010 campaign with Paladino. He worked with both sides then and he may be working with the GOP now.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/ron-desantis-florida-senate-race-tony-fabrizio-118396.html
>>In an extra twist, Republican-turned-Libertarian operative Roger Stone said he might run for Senate as a Libertarian candidate. If so, it would mean Fabrizio would be friendly with yet another potential DeSantis opponent. Stone lives close to Fabrizio’s Fort Lauderdale home, and the two have been good friends for 30 years.
“I’m far more scared of facing Roger Stone across the debate table on Fox News than I am at the ballot box,” Fabrizio said.<<
Note that the article says Stone may run for Senate, not that he will, unlike what the reference at the pingback says.
Well, I researched it and he actually has a current FB page “Roger Stone for Senate.”
Lots of prospective candidates put up FB pages and then decide not to run. Some have others put up FB pages for them. It doesn’t prove anything one way or the other.
He also has a web site for an “exploratory committee” at rogerstone2016.com, and has been included in at least one newspaper online poll for the race.
Yes, exploratory. Hence “may” not “is.” Exploratory/prsspective campaigns sometimes do get included in polls as well. Jill corrected it on the pingbacked link now. https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2015/08/roger-stone-has-op-ed-published-how-donald-trump-can-win-the-us-presidency/
Actually, I would pay a modest amount to watch a Stone/Invictus debate. Kinda like seeing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at the movies.
LOL. I wonder if Stone would agree to it. I guess you could ask him.