Roger Stone, the veteran political operative who worked on both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s campaigns, said Thursday that Karl Rove’s new group, the Conservative Victory Project, will divide the Republican Party and amounts to a “suicide PAC.”
“The tone of this is the problem,” Stone told TPM. Rove’s new group seeks to back electable candidates who can help Republicans win back a majority in the Senate. The group has already sparked infighting between the Republican establishment and the tea party. Rove has insisted he doesn’t want a fight with the tea party and isn’t out to protect incumbent Republicans.
Still, Stone said it’s wrong to alienate the conservative base. “These are the storm troops of the Republican Party,” he said, adding that tea party folks ring doorbells and hang sings for candidates. “Don’t offend them”
Stone said Republicans can find electable candidates who also appeal to tea party principles. But a group that divides a minority party, he added, “that’s like pre-meditated suicide. I’m not for a suicide PAC.”
