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"Legendary" GOP Strategist Launches Hillary Namecalling Effort
A couple of days ago, a group called Citizens United Not Timid filed papers with the IRS as a "527" organization. Then we saw that Roger Stone had signed on as the group's "assistant treasurer." Uh oh.
Stone, regular TPM readers know, is a Republican operative who prides himself as something of an elder statesman of GOP dirty tricks. He went to work for Richard Nixon at age nineteen, making him the "youngest Watergate dirty trickster." He continues to idolize the man, even sporting a tattoo of Nixon's face between his shoulder blades. On his website, the StoneZone, he proudly touts Nixon's endorsement of him as "one of the very few excellent political professionals."
His career with the GOP took off from there, leading to spots with Ronald Reagan's campaigns, Bob Dole's presidential campaign, two of Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) campaigns (Specter reportedly counts him as a friend), among others. James Baker tapped him to lead street protests in Florida to shut down the recount in 2000. Most recently, he was hired by New York Republicans for their battle with Gov. Elliot Spitzer (D), a gig that exploded when he was accused of making a threatening phone call to Spitzer's 83 year-old father (Stone denied it).
So what's Stone up to? Fortunately, he laid the whole scheme out to The Weekly Standard.
It's this simple: it's all about the group's acronym, which, used in conjunction with Hillary Clinton, is supposed to be irresistibly humorous. That is the beginning and the end of it. The group will not be running ads in any form and will not be making any robocalls. They'll be making T-shirts. That's it. You can buy them for $25 on their website:

In addition to this website being blast-emailed to hundreds of thousands of addresses that Stone and [another GOP operative] have accumulated over the years (working off over 170 different email lists of everyone from opinion-makers to political activists to industry associations), Stone is counting on T-shirt sales to further serve as "billboard education." He figures the whole thing will end up taking on a viral nature, thanks to the yuks factor...."The more people go to the site, the more people buy the T-shirts," Stone explains.... "The more people buy the T-shirts, the more people wear the T-shirts. The more people wear the T-shirts, the more people are educated. Consequently, our mission has been achieved." Though neither the word itself nor even the acronym is ever mentioned, "it's one-word education. That's our mission. No issues. No policy groups. No position papers. This is a simple committee with an unfortunate acronym...."
Presumably Stone learned this gimmick from working on Nixon's 1972 Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP).
Yes, that's it. That's the stroke of genius from the man whom Tucker Carlson insists on calling "legendary Republican strategist Roger Stone" every time he appears on his show (twice this month). The Standard explains that Stone is "trying to tap into deep-seated sentiments about Clinton that pundits and rival candidates can't articulate."
There is, nonetheless, a valuable lesson here. Stone walks the Standard's Matt Labash through how he set up his 527. All that's needed is a name. He chose Jeff "Noodles" Jones, a local bartender/DJ in Miami, to serve as the group's chairman. It doesn't matter that Noodles doesn't have much of a clue about anything -- in fact, that's the point. As long as he doesn't have a criminal record (a mistake Stone almost made when selecting a chairman), he's OK. Voila! Attack group. Stone explains:
"A 527 doesn't have a wife," Stone explains. "It doesn't have a brother-in-law who knows a lot about politics, or a union president who calls and doesn't like the color of the suit, or bimbo eruptions. It's the perfect candidate, because it has no personal characteristics."
No personal characteristics indeed. The group's IRS filings are studiedly anonymous, disclosing their purpose as “To educate the public about the importance of moral character and integtiry [sic] in those who hold public office.”
Labash writes that Stone wants Democrats to know that "if Hillary is the nominee, a hard 527 rain is going to fall." And already the anti-Hillary groups are getting themselves crossed up. No sooner had Stone filed his organization's papers than Citizens United, a group headed by David Bossie that's been attacking the Clintons for nearly twenty years and recently released Hillary: The Movie, sent a cease and desist letter to Stone, alleging infringement.

It's good to know not all Republicans are crooks.
Some are just a-holes.
January 23, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't this the same guy who is an infamous wife-swapping swinger???
Re C.U.N.T ... he oughta know, eh??
Man, the GOP going batshit insane over an HRC nomination would be a repeat of the Schiavo spectacle, but this time with wingnuts' heads exploding all over the country to be filmed.
I don't think Schiavo worked well for the GOP, and they are nuts if they think airing their vengeful and creepy persona to the public is going to win them votes.
Besides--who is he trying to kid? They are going to be all kinds of ugly whoever the Democratic nominee is. Look what they did to Kerry, a war hero and hamster saver!!
January 23, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama may not know to fight Hillary toe to toe, but Roger Stone and his ilk do. Hillary's unfavorable rating in the latest Gallup Poll is 46%. Republicans and swing voters hate Hillary and will never vote for her. It's time for Democrats to consider Hillary's unelectability when casting their primary votes.
January 23, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great, just great. I wonder how much the clinton campaign is paying this guy. Oh, brother.
January 23, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Wife-swapping swinger" ain't even the start of it. Anyone have a pic of Stone in his leather gear?
January 23, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a good thing for Stone that women don't vote.
Oh, wait...
January 23, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gosh, do ya suppose this could backfire bigtime? Swiftboaters almost did the trick, but if I ever discovered any of my dittohead relatives wearing these t-shirts I would definitely never speak to them again for the rest of their lives.
January 23, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read the headline of this and immediately thought it was a parody.
"Name-calling effort"? "Citizen United Not Timid"?
Stone has beaten the parodists to the punch on this one.
January 23, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
This has 'Blowback' written all over it; this is 'n word' ugly.
Let's give these guys all the publicity they want. Hopefully the writer's strike will end just in time for The Daily Show to really make this an spectacular backfire.
January 23, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I went to law school with guys like that.
Anyone who uses that word as a prejorative isn't going to vote for a woman president, anyway.
And probably not an African American, either.
I bet you could get into one of those tightly controlled Bush audiences wearing one.
January 23, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well in just Obama's base they will make a fortune on these unless of course they find the term too flattering for her.
January 23, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
The best part is, he can save the name for when Anne Coulter runs for President.
January 23, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't say this lightly: the man is a dangerous lunatic.
Look at his face in that Nixon shot. He's batshit crazy.
January 23, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm particularly amused by the fact that their website appeals to those who agree with their "analysis" to buy a t-shirt. That's funny.
January 23, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The nastier they get, the better she looks. I'm sure their mothers will be proud of them.
January 23, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Never mind the name, check out the logo! I just got over the disgusting jerks use of the word, then to look at the "stylized" vagina..... No f-en shame.
January 23, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Once this is tied to the republican party, there will not be a woman anywhere in this country that will pull the lever for an (R).
Not for President, not for congress, not for dogcatcher.
And if I see anyone wearing one in public, I will file a public obscenity charge.
It is just stupid. and sophomoric, and ridiculous. just their speed.
January 23, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "C" word - there is not one gal out there that doesn't feel that the "C" word is much worse the the "F" bomb.
Blowback - believe me it'll be so...bad and offensive to the 54+% of the voters (that'd be the girls) that they'd vote against the R just because of that.
Makes you feel real good about them "family values" folks. I've said for a longtime, that these people have spent decades setting up their infrastruction and corporations that steal from us, the goverment, for the benefit of them and only them. And if we thought for one minute that they were going to let all their hard work just go up in smoke in November...then we are living on another planet. They will do anything to win...to stay in power. It will not matter if it's Hillary or Obama - it's going to be brutal - the "C" or a drug dealer...whatever it takes guys...it's coming our way. And we better be prepared.
Oh and to John Kerry - hope you learned something in '04 big guy - when you didn't hit back and hit back hard on the swiftboaters...you proved their very point...that you were a liar and coward and didn't earn your medals. That's what Bubba thought - so if you're advising Obama on how to handle swiftboaters, I sure as hell hope you learned something for the absolute mess you made of your campaign. If not, say a prayer of Obama.
January 23, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just me or does the picture above very much represent a bikini?
January 23, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, it's almost as if the GOP WANTS the Clintons to be the nominee. Nothing like a little sympathy to gin up some support.
January 23, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, I fear this is only the beginning...
January 23, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes Moe, actually, its a c----. It is not a figment of your imagination, it is there for the f-en illiterate GOP Base, family-values voters.
May he burn in hell next to his hero Nixon.
January 23, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like this doesn't have backfire written all over it.
Good to see TPM is front paging quality journalism!!!
January 23, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is encouraging (& entertaining) to see that the infighting is there...one Clinton hating group suing another Clinton hating group.
January 23, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Moe, that would the visual representation of the C-word.
You catch on quick.
-GSD
January 23, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
No better way to mobilize woman voters than hardly-veiled misogyny. Do these people honestly believe this won't harm their own cause? There's no way this sort of message will play well with the general public.
January 23, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK He has Guilianni on his website, Let's finmd out if Rudy supports this nonsense.
He has a Law firm "sponsoring" his real website, let's see if they like the politics they are "sponsoring".
Time to email bomb both Rudy and the law firm with links to both sites and ask their opinion of the sites they are "affiliated with.
January 23, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can you spell b-a-c-k-f-i-r-e boys and girls?
Good.
Now spell "GOP dumb bastard."
That means a dork who will hand the election to HRC as millions of women voters get highly pissed and who could blame them?
This writer grew up in Italian, Irish, Jewish neighborhoods in NJ where men who talked like this about other men's wives, daughters, sweethearts got their legs broken.
xxx
January 23, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Next thing this bozo will be jumping up and down chanting "iron my shirt." The repubs are so desperate to have clinton as the dem nominee they are doing anything to gin up support for her. Pathetic.
January 23, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is right up TPMs alley - a chance to slime Hillary in favor of the Preacher and say "Hey it's not us."
You guys are worse than Huffington POst and I thought that was as biased as it got. I guess like Markos and Arianna your just old Republicans hiding out in Progressive clothing.
January 23, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
How will evangelicals feel about the use of this word, even to describe Hillary Clinton?
January 23, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
So...
If you all are really sick of the Clintons, why taking any chances?
It's possible Obama and Edwards are as bad and the filth is just lying somewhere in the gutter waiting for someone to show to the people of America.
Plus, who knows? They are saying things the people like to hear but when the Republicans get going in the summer, will the nominee (Obama or Edwards) get suckered in to shifting his platform or making a weak platform like Kerry did?
Kerry's helping run Obama's campaign now.
Vote and donate to Kucinich. It's the only way to vote clean this November.
January 23, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember how fast national Democrats backed away from MoveOn's
"Petraeus/Betry Us" ad? I'm sure Republican poobahs will disavow this brainstorm, right?
Hello? Anyone?
January 23, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aren't Republicans those people who always accuse lefties of resorting to name-calling?
What a cunt this guy is.
January 23, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
At least I'm trying to get actual models for the Hillary shirt I'm making, rather than photoshopping it on the girl with the biggest rack I can find on a google image search.
These morons should stay out of fashion. If they were slightly more cultured and didn't wear the same blazer-collared shirt combo every time, and maybe unbuttoned their top buttons, they wouldn't be this douchey in the first place.
January 23, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Real classy.
This guy *defines* schmuck.
January 23, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
And secondly, nobody has the attention span to actually read all of that on a T-shirt in public. It's not witty, it's not funny, it's too wordy, and just plain sucks.
January 23, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, I kinda like the logo. If our Preznit is gonna be a C---, she might as well be a star...
January 23, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
ww.nndb.com/people/844/000047703/
Here is the stone pics and the sex story information on Stone.
I vaguely remember something about his wife and facials....
LOL!!!!
January 23, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm supporting one of the other Democratic candidates, but if Hillary gets the nomination I WILL NOT vote for her. Period. I see no difference between her and any other careerist C.U.N.T. who wants to run the country instead of leading it. If Hillary gets the nomination, it just won't matter to me who ends up in the White House.
January 23, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
First impression, whoever designed that logo is a total idiot. It looks like the hind end of an elephant, and guess where the little star is? Jeez.
January 23, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Orwell's Intuition wrote on January 23, 2008 4:57 PM:
First impression, whoever designed that logo is a total idiot. It looks like the hind end of an elephant, and guess where the little star is? Jeez.
Hey, gotta respect the Larry Craig republicans for being so modest!
January 23, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Rog -- no fat chicks, huh? Is this a joke I mean, Roger Stone, the "cocksman," and his bimbo wife, still being written of?
January 23, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nothing like using the C word and depicting a woman's nether regions on a t-shirt to really express the superior morality and godliness of the Republican Party. It might even turn off the wingnuts.
And if Obama thinks that this guy, or others like him, aren't going to be making N word t-shirts if he gets the nomination, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
These people are just scum. They have to be called out as such. The Goopers won't stop him, I just hope they enjoy becoming the party of tired old white men.
January 23, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish Obama only HAD some Republican dipshit who was willing to do this for him. The blowback is going to be huge if this gets much play.
January 23, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
This will get Hillary votes. Remember New Hampshire.
Give him all the publicity he wants, and weep when you see the vote totals.
January 23, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dear Mark F at 4:56pm:
Leaving aside the silliness of the notion that even your least favorite Dem candidate is worse than any of the GOP horrors, your use of the C word in your own post demonstrates that you are in the same league as Mr. Stone.
If I were your mom I'd wash your mouth out with soap.
January 23, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice hair Rog.
At least Dems know that whoever wins the nomination, they'll score a lot of sympathy points just for becoming the target of latent (and not-so-latent) right-wing misogyny or racism.
We always win when wingnuts stop hiding their natural predilections.
January 23, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why jump on Roger Stone.
His plan is little worse than the name-calling smear campaign being waged against Clinton by Obama supporters.
"Hitlery"
"Goldwater Girl"
"GOP-lite"
And those are just the printable ones!
In fact, I'm quite sure some Obama supporter will soon have a rap song out that uses this misogynistic term to promote Obama and appeal to the Hillary Haters all at the same time.
January 23, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez, why could someone like Stone be doing this? Other than the obvious reason that he actually thinks Hillary is a c..., could there be another reason in mind? Could it also be a way to energize dems to "get back" at scum like Stone by voting for Hillary? Heck, even enough to nominate her?
Now why do you think a Republican would want to run against Hillary? Gee, I wonder why.
January 23, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gosh, I didn't know Stone was a Hillary supporter. That's great! It will be the best thing to happen to her since Tweety Matthews said she was elected senator because the voters were sorry for her.
Way to go, Stone! Nice GOTV effort for the women.
LOVE it!
January 23, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Mr. Stone --
While I'm explaining the meaning of your t-shirt to my children, I'll also add that it's the brain-child of the:
family-values,
personal-responsibility,compassionate-Conservative
January 23, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's going to educate us about "moral character"?
The question is why does the media (Carlson is only the worst example) accord this person the credibility of reporting what he says or does? This guy is obviously pathological. The streets are full of sickos like him, but most don't get to expound in the papers.
January 23, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
litigatormom:
"Leaving aside the silliness of the notion that even your least favorite Dem candidate is worse than any of the GOP horrors, your use of the C word in your own post demonstrates that you are in the same league as Mr. Stone."
Let's get something straight: I thought Bill Clinton was a lousy president. Not nearly as lousy as our current moron-in-chief, but pretty damn lousy. And Hillary is just plain worthless. I would RATHER have a Republican in office than Hillary because it might drive voters to finally abandon their stupid fear of stepping outside the Big Government status quo and elect a real leader with some real ideas.
As for my use of the "C" word, how do you know I'm not from the U.K.?
January 23, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't help thinking that this is Roger Stone's effort to make some cash off of the Hillary haters. And by doing it as a 527, he avoids a bunch of legal trouble, and doesn't have to pay taxes on what he brings in from the shirt sales.
And of course, he gets plenty of free publicity from The Weekly Standard.
January 23, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, Mr. Stone ---
While I'm explaining the meaning of your oh-so-clever t-shirt to my children, I'll be sure and give credit to the:
family-values,
compassionate-Conservative,
faith-based,
personal-responsiblity
party -- the Republicans.
Keep up the enviable work; gosh, your mom must be so proud 'cause I'm sure her number one lesson to you was "The ends justify the means."
January 23, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look carefully at their logo. It's a woman's crotch.
January 23, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is disgusting. If anything, though, I think it might help hilary versus Obama. And versus the republicans, I think it is already pretty set in stone who would vote for who.
January 23, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
CLASSY!
Almost as classy as a Clinton supporter insinuating that an Obama supporter is going to come up with a misogynistic rap ('cause that's what those people love, right?) about Clinton.
It's all disgusting. If Clinton doesn't lose the nomination due to people getting sickened by the dirt-flinging scumbags (by that I mainly mean the Clinton-supporting ones) and her over-zealous husband, then tactics like C.U.N.T.'s will cause a massive backlash among women voters when the big election comes.
January 23, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
whoops -- double-clicked on "tab" or some other mistake and sent the unfinished posting at 5:30 p.m. -- The completed one is at 5:32 p.m.
I'm sorry for the error.
January 23, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup this is the guy who was trolling for anonymous sex w/ his wife while writing 'family values' speeches for Dole amongst others. Typical GOP.
January 23, 2008 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
This invites MAJOR blow-back. The remaining women in the GOP will be pissed.
The 'c' word for all women is analogous to the 'n' for African Americans.
Road kill, these guys are going to be road kill.
And hey Roger, do you kiss your mom with that mouth of yours?
January 23, 2008 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
>>>>>This will get Hillary votes. Remember New Hampshire.
Give him all the publicity he wants, and weep when you see the vote totals.>>>>>
Well duh. This is "iron my shirt" dumb, which is to say, it isn't dumb at all. It will help accomplish exactly what the republicans want, which is a Hillary nomination.
January 23, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brat:
"This invites MAJOR blow-back. The remaining women in the GOP will be pissed."
That's not the strategy here. This is standard oppo crap. They WANT Hillary to get the nomination. This is an effort to get women Democrats outraged so they'll get behind Hillary. The Republicans have planned their strategy to beat Hillary for almost two decades. She has NO chance of becoming president.
January 23, 2008 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure all those Dimocrats who went after MoveOn for the Patreus bit will now be as adamant about going after this slime.
Oh, Senator Kerry, Senator Kerry, Teresa, anyone home.
January 23, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is Stone still pimping his wife in swinger newsletters? Maybe he'd have better luck putting an ad in the Weekly Standard--you know some of those neocons are way kinky.
January 23, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sally: Save your stand-up routine for the trailer park. The playground-level attacks really don't work on "Dimocrats".
January 23, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, but this is so obviously over ham-fisted, and so obviously helps Hillary, that I have to say I can't take anyone who takes it seriously seriously. Unless they are pretending to take it seriously. Then I'll pretend to take them seriously.
That logo? Come on. You are being played for dopes. The tards want Hillary. What don't you get?
Can you stop and think about it for a minute?
No, on the other hand, just get on with your pitiful knee-jerk identity politics they are baiting you to.
January 23, 2008 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink