Longtime political consultant Roger Stone told The Observer today that he never believed that Donald Trumo had the stomach for the kind of grassr0ots politicking that running for president required.

“I never saw him going to Iowa to meet a pig farmer for coffee at six o’ clock in the morning.”  Stone said.  ”The people in Iowa want you to mow their law, do their dishes, and play cards with them at their kitchen table before they consider voting for you. I just never thought he was well-suited to that.”

Stone has had something of an on-again, off-again relationship with Trump. He said that he went to both of Trump’s weddings and would speak to him several times a week by phone, providing a gateway to the conservative blogosphere to the real-estate-tycoon-turned-reality-TV-star.  But Trump distanced himself from Stone as he took a longer look at the presidential campaign.

Stone noted that Trump would be better suited for an independent run for president, one that relied less on face-to-face voter contact.

“I think that would have taken away some of his celebrity luster,” he said. “After they see you for four weeks you are just another politician. Part of Trump’s cachet is the big announcement, the big TV show, the big speech.”

Stone added that he was “disappointed” that Trump decided against a run, and sounded pessimistic about the rest of the Republican field.

“What field,” he asked, in jest. “This is a pathetic collection of losers. I don’t see anyone capable of beating Barack Obama.”

Note: Trump is the father-in-law of Observer publisher Jared Kushner.

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