Stalking horse
Encyclopedia
A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone or mounts a challenge against them on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure. If the concept fails, the anonymous party will not be tainted by association and can either drop the idea completely or bide their time and wait until a better moment for launching an attack.
, particularly of wildfowl. Hunters noticed that many birds would flee immediately on the approach of humans, but would tolerate the close presence of animals such as horse
s and cattle
.
Hunters would therefore slowly approach their quarry by walking alongside their horses, keeping their upper bodies out of sight until the flock was within firing range. Animals trained for this purpose were called stalking horses. Sometimes mobile hides
are used for a similar purpose.
An example of the practice figures in the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson, when Johnson and Chris Lapp ("Bear Claw") are hunting elk in the Rockies:
Jeremiah: Wind's right, but he'll just run soon as we step out of these trees.
Bear Claw: Trick to it. Walk out on this side of your horse.
Jeremiah: What if he sees our feet?
Bear Claw: Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!
The loser in the exercise appears to be the stalking horse. If the idea is viable and/or popular, the stalking horse will lose out because the anonymous figure will discard them and take over the concept themselves. If the concept is unpopular, the stalking horse will be 'shot down in flames' and will get metaphorically burned. The understanding is that the anonymous party is a major player, probably only a little weaker than the Target themselves, and the stalking horse very much a minor figure—a minnow—who has little or no reputation to lose. The anonymous figure is not sufficiently powerful, or does not have sufficient confidence in their power, to risk a direct attack first off, but the stalking horse is a form of distraction tactic to enable better positioning.
The 'horse' is therefore, in politics, a junior figure who expects patronage
from the senior figure, or, in business, an associated company that expects a share in the contracts or the market-share that will result from the demise of the business rival.
In the event of success, the 'horse' will be rewarded soon, in the event of failure they will have to wait a while, but as they are on the bottom rung of the ladder they have little or no distance to fall and can only rise. The loyalty in volunteering, or agreeing to be 'volunteered', will ensure their name becomes known to those who matter and should guarantee help in advancing their interests. As a weaker player, they can afford to wait a while for the due reward.
Alternatively, the 'horse' may be acting in a more altruistic and self-sacrificial manner, knowing there is no possibility of realistic reward from the Third Party for the exercise, but is motivated by duty or loyalty to do so for the greater good of the party or organization or cause to which they both belong. In this case, the 'horse' will probably not be a young person hoping for advancement, but an older figure at the end of their career, who volunteers as a pay-back of thanks for all the benefits they believe the cause has given them and/or as a chance to go out in a blaze of glory.
In the event of failure, the anonymous party is seen as being sufficiently powerful to protect the 'horse' from any real retribution on the part of the target, particularly since the anonymity will allow the Third Party to step in and pretend to be an honest broker between the 'horse' and the target. This is a further opportunity to enhance the reputation of the Third Party and boost their status at the expense of the target. If the exercise is viable, the Third Party gains power immediately, but even if it fails, it engineers an opportunity to resolve a stalemate and enhance the contender's reputation, so that ultimate success is another step nearer, to the benefit of both the Third Party and the 'horse', who expects to slipstream
in his/her wake.
. A stalking horse would be a particular form of 'smokescreen'.
Another concept is that of flying a kite. The stalking horse pretends to be interested in a concept themselves, but in reality they are testing an idea for another. Likewise, in journalism, the term 'flying a kite' takes the metaphor
of the child's toy to mean: advancing a concept in which one has no personal belief, or for which one has no reliable evidence, as a similar exercise in 'testing the waters'. Another similar metaphor is that of a trial balloon
.
For example: 'Anonymous sources say that Adam Everyman wants to be President of the USA'. If he doesn't, he will deny it, ruling himself out as a potential contender, allowing real contenders to see who is left in the contest. If Everyman does want it, he has been forced to declare his position too soon, allowing others to search for arguments to counter his threat. The politician would not give an answer when asked the question himself, so the journalist advanced it anyway citing 'anonymous sources'. This is an honorable tradition, but in this example there was no real source to be protected, it was a fabricated story. This would of course be uncommon and indeed unethical, but still it is 'not unknown'. At worst, it fills space on a dull news day, but it might flush out interesting responses from real people, in which case the non-existent sources can be 'discarded' and the real people can be presented as the sort who were being 'protected'. Now the journalist has real stories which can legitimately be pursued.
Different examples may provoke different responses. Some may be directed to play to the readers themselves. The idea is 'to provoke a response where otherwise there would be none'. Like the stalking horse, the means is to use a spurious debate to provoke a real one.
The difference is that the concept is advanced, not an individual. In one form of 'flying a kite', a journalist claims to be acting on a behalf of a real but anonymous person, while in reality they are acting for themselves: this would be the opposite of the stalking horse.
Another concept is collusion
. The difference here is that collusion usually refers to the situation of the First and Third Parties both declaring themselves openly to the Target, but each pretends to be independent of anyone else and acting solely for themselves, whilst in reality, they are acting in concert, in joint enterprise
and to mutual advantage, at the expense of the Target. If one party acts aggressively and the other sympathetically towards the target, it may be an example of good cop/bad cop
. In the stalking horse scenario, the First and Third Parties are still acting in concert and in joint enterprise and still at the expense of the Target, but only the first party, the 'horse', is openly dealing with the Target. In addition, they are not acting to immediate mutual advantage: they are acting to advantage the Third Party only, the anonymous party, who, at a later date, should in turn give reward to the First Party, the 'horse'.
Another idiom might be that of the puppet-master. One person, the 'horse', dances like a puppet in the limelight on the stage, but another, the anonymous figure, is the one who is actually pulling the strings, unseen by all. The stalking horse appears to be acting for and as themselves, but there are others in the shadows. The difference is that the eminence grise or puppet-master is definitely controlling the puppet, but the stalking horse may not always be acting on the orders of, or to the benefit of, a particular - named - individual: they may be acting for a cause, in the hope that some individual will be inspired to enter the fray and take over.
A final related concept is that of the sacrificial pawn. In the game of chess, a pawn may be advanced in the knowledge that it will definitely be lost, but in so doing it will force out an enemy piece of much higher value and make that piece much more susceptible to attack. This image is also in common usage as an obvious metaphor
. The difference with the stalking horse is that not only is the outcome not known at the outset but, furthermore, that it cannot reasonably be estimated without a proper reconnaissance
. Unlike the pawn, therefore, the horse might have a good chance of survival. What is definite is that, either way, the 'horse' will not benefit from the initial exercise.
, where a junior politician acts as the stalking horse to promote the interests of a senior politician who remains unseen in case the actions would damage him or her but nevertheless wants to provoke a debate or challenge to a party colleague. In some cases stalking horses are not working for a particular individual but may wish to provoke a response that leads others to join in. In politics, the truth about the relationship between an individual stalking horse and a candidate may never be known, as both sides may claim that the (alleged) stalking horse acted without the agreement of anyone else.
A classic example of the latter form, from the world of British politics, was the case of the elderly and largely unknown back-bench
politician Sir Anthony Meyer
, who challenged and brought about the eventual defeat of Margaret Thatcher
in the Conservative Party
leadership. Although Meyer's bid failed, as was expected, it brought the leadership issue out into the open and flushed out who would defend Mrs. Thatcher and who was prepared to fly off as soon as an alternative leader presented themselves. Screened by Sir Anthony's distracting intervention, a 'Big Beast' could then observe who the targets were, where they were and how many there were. The Iron Lady would not see the real attack until a genuine and credible rival was in position, ready to attack. Meyer was so obscure that he was memorably referred to as 'the stalking donkey'.
Sure enough, assisted by this 'testing of the waters' or 'market-research', Michael Heseltine
(a Big Beast of the Party at the time) declared himself ready to stand for the leadership. Ultimately, this bid too was unsuccessful, as the Party produced an 'anyone but Heseltine' candidate, in the form of John Major
. The stalking horse did not win the position of leader themselves, but did weaken the position of the existing leader sufficiently to flush out stronger challengers. Leading politicians seeking the highest political offices rarely take on the role of challengers themselves, usually preferring some lesser figure to provoke an artificial crisis first, in order then to be able to step in to the debate or the election, in order to 'resolve' the crisis, free from any taint of having engineered it in the first place.
A further example occurred in the Republic of Ireland
in 1992, involving former Fianna Fáil
minister Seán Doherty, who had once been engulfed in a scandal over the revelation that as Minister for Justice
he sanctioned the tapping
of two journalist
s' telephones. At the time of the scandal in 1982, Doherty claimed that then party leader Charles Haughey
played no part in the tapping of the telephones. In 1992 however he changed his story and insisted that Haughey had been an active participant. In the resulting furore, Haughey, who was Taoiseach
, was forced to resign and was replaced by former Minister Albert Reynolds
. Media critics regarded Doherty as a stalking horse for Reynolds though both men denied any involvement in what the media alleged was a "staged crisis," Doherty insisting that he acted alone in provoking the crisis, without having consulted Reynolds, much less acted for him.
A more recent example of a stalking horse (though likely without prior coordination) can be seen in the example of the 2003 California recall. Dissatisfaction with then-California Governor
Gray Davis
led U.S. Representative Darrell Issa
, a Republican
, to mount a recall campaign
to oust Davis, using much of his own money. Issa managed to force the issue into a two-point referendum
. The first point was on whether or not to replace Davis. The second point would have been to select a successor. Issa ran on the second point, and then several other candidates, one of whom was actor
/bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger
, entered the fray. Schwarzenegger's success in gaining traction on all other contenders led Issa to back out of the race.
, a stalking horse bid
is a first, favorable bid solicited by the bankrupt company strategically to prevent low-ball
offers.
Origin
The term stalking horse originally derived from the practice of huntingHunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, particularly of wildfowl. Hunters noticed that many birds would flee immediately on the approach of humans, but would tolerate the close presence of animals such as horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s and cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
.
Hunters would therefore slowly approach their quarry by walking alongside their horses, keeping their upper bodies out of sight until the flock was within firing range. Animals trained for this purpose were called stalking horses. Sometimes mobile hides
Bird hide
A bird hide is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commonly found in parks and wetlands for the use of bird watchers, ornithologists and other observers who do not...
are used for a similar purpose.
An example of the practice figures in the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson, when Johnson and Chris Lapp ("Bear Claw") are hunting elk in the Rockies:
Jeremiah: Wind's right, but he'll just run soon as we step out of these trees.
Bear Claw: Trick to it. Walk out on this side of your horse.
Jeremiah: What if he sees our feet?
Bear Claw: Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!
Usage
The expression is generally used in politics and business. In politics, the circumstances are an attempt to bring down a powerful leader, usually by members of their own party. In business, the circumstances are an attempt at testing the market for a potential (hostile) takeover of a business. In each case, there is the clear understanding that the anonymous party, whether a company or an individual, has a valuable reputation that could be damaged by the failure. The stalking horse is an exercise in assessing accurately the degree of risk, thus a full-blooded challenge is only mounted by the main party when there is a real likelihood of success.The loser in the exercise appears to be the stalking horse. If the idea is viable and/or popular, the stalking horse will lose out because the anonymous figure will discard them and take over the concept themselves. If the concept is unpopular, the stalking horse will be 'shot down in flames' and will get metaphorically burned. The understanding is that the anonymous party is a major player, probably only a little weaker than the Target themselves, and the stalking horse very much a minor figure—a minnow—who has little or no reputation to lose. The anonymous figure is not sufficiently powerful, or does not have sufficient confidence in their power, to risk a direct attack first off, but the stalking horse is a form of distraction tactic to enable better positioning.
The 'horse' is therefore, in politics, a junior figure who expects patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
from the senior figure, or, in business, an associated company that expects a share in the contracts or the market-share that will result from the demise of the business rival.
In the event of success, the 'horse' will be rewarded soon, in the event of failure they will have to wait a while, but as they are on the bottom rung of the ladder they have little or no distance to fall and can only rise. The loyalty in volunteering, or agreeing to be 'volunteered', will ensure their name becomes known to those who matter and should guarantee help in advancing their interests. As a weaker player, they can afford to wait a while for the due reward.
Alternatively, the 'horse' may be acting in a more altruistic and self-sacrificial manner, knowing there is no possibility of realistic reward from the Third Party for the exercise, but is motivated by duty or loyalty to do so for the greater good of the party or organization or cause to which they both belong. In this case, the 'horse' will probably not be a young person hoping for advancement, but an older figure at the end of their career, who volunteers as a pay-back of thanks for all the benefits they believe the cause has given them and/or as a chance to go out in a blaze of glory.
In the event of failure, the anonymous party is seen as being sufficiently powerful to protect the 'horse' from any real retribution on the part of the target, particularly since the anonymity will allow the Third Party to step in and pretend to be an honest broker between the 'horse' and the target. This is a further opportunity to enhance the reputation of the Third Party and boost their status at the expense of the target. If the exercise is viable, the Third Party gains power immediately, but even if it fails, it engineers an opportunity to resolve a stalemate and enhance the contender's reputation, so that ultimate success is another step nearer, to the benefit of both the Third Party and the 'horse', who expects to slipstream
Slipstream
A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid is moving at velocities comparable to the moving object . The term slipstream also applies to the similar region adjacent to an object with a fluid moving around it...
in his/her wake.
Related concepts
One related concept is the smoke screen. Like a stalking horse, smokescreens are used to screen and mask an attack. In the literal and genuine form, the smokescreen is still a device used in warfare (in defence as well as attack), but in general usage, it is also a commonly used metaphorMetaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
. A stalking horse would be a particular form of 'smokescreen'.
Another concept is that of flying a kite. The stalking horse pretends to be interested in a concept themselves, but in reality they are testing an idea for another. Likewise, in journalism, the term 'flying a kite' takes the metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
of the child's toy to mean: advancing a concept in which one has no personal belief, or for which one has no reliable evidence, as a similar exercise in 'testing the waters'. Another similar metaphor is that of a trial balloon
Trial balloon
A trial balloon is information sent out to the media in order to observe the reaction of an audience. It can be used by companies sending out press releases to judge reaction by customers, or it can be used by politicians who deliberately leak information on a policy change under consideration...
.
For example: 'Anonymous sources say that Adam Everyman wants to be President of the USA'. If he doesn't, he will deny it, ruling himself out as a potential contender, allowing real contenders to see who is left in the contest. If Everyman does want it, he has been forced to declare his position too soon, allowing others to search for arguments to counter his threat. The politician would not give an answer when asked the question himself, so the journalist advanced it anyway citing 'anonymous sources'. This is an honorable tradition, but in this example there was no real source to be protected, it was a fabricated story. This would of course be uncommon and indeed unethical, but still it is 'not unknown'. At worst, it fills space on a dull news day, but it might flush out interesting responses from real people, in which case the non-existent sources can be 'discarded' and the real people can be presented as the sort who were being 'protected'. Now the journalist has real stories which can legitimately be pursued.
Different examples may provoke different responses. Some may be directed to play to the readers themselves. The idea is 'to provoke a response where otherwise there would be none'. Like the stalking horse, the means is to use a spurious debate to provoke a real one.
The difference is that the concept is advanced, not an individual. In one form of 'flying a kite', a journalist claims to be acting on a behalf of a real but anonymous person, while in reality they are acting for themselves: this would be the opposite of the stalking horse.
Another concept is collusion
Collusion
Collusion is an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage...
. The difference here is that collusion usually refers to the situation of the First and Third Parties both declaring themselves openly to the Target, but each pretends to be independent of anyone else and acting solely for themselves, whilst in reality, they are acting in concert, in joint enterprise
Common purpose
The doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions which imputes criminal liability on the participants to a criminal enterprise for all that results from that enterprise...
and to mutual advantage, at the expense of the Target. If one party acts aggressively and the other sympathetically towards the target, it may be an example of good cop/bad cop
Good cop/Bad cop
Good cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation....
. In the stalking horse scenario, the First and Third Parties are still acting in concert and in joint enterprise and still at the expense of the Target, but only the first party, the 'horse', is openly dealing with the Target. In addition, they are not acting to immediate mutual advantage: they are acting to advantage the Third Party only, the anonymous party, who, at a later date, should in turn give reward to the First Party, the 'horse'.
Another idiom might be that of the puppet-master. One person, the 'horse', dances like a puppet in the limelight on the stage, but another, the anonymous figure, is the one who is actually pulling the strings, unseen by all. The stalking horse appears to be acting for and as themselves, but there are others in the shadows. The difference is that the eminence grise or puppet-master is definitely controlling the puppet, but the stalking horse may not always be acting on the orders of, or to the benefit of, a particular - named - individual: they may be acting for a cause, in the hope that some individual will be inspired to enter the fray and take over.
A final related concept is that of the sacrificial pawn. In the game of chess, a pawn may be advanced in the knowledge that it will definitely be lost, but in so doing it will force out an enemy piece of much higher value and make that piece much more susceptible to attack. This image is also in common usage as an obvious metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
. The difference with the stalking horse is that not only is the outcome not known at the outset but, furthermore, that it cannot reasonably be estimated without a proper reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
. Unlike the pawn, therefore, the horse might have a good chance of survival. What is definite is that, either way, the 'horse' will not benefit from the initial exercise.
In politics
The phenomenon occurs particularly in politicsPolitics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, where a junior politician acts as the stalking horse to promote the interests of a senior politician who remains unseen in case the actions would damage him or her but nevertheless wants to provoke a debate or challenge to a party colleague. In some cases stalking horses are not working for a particular individual but may wish to provoke a response that leads others to join in. In politics, the truth about the relationship between an individual stalking horse and a candidate may never be known, as both sides may claim that the (alleged) stalking horse acted without the agreement of anyone else.
A classic example of the latter form, from the world of British politics, was the case of the elderly and largely unknown back-bench
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
politician Sir Anthony Meyer
Anthony Meyer
Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer, 3rd Baronet was a British soldier, diplomat, and Conservative and later Liberal Democrat politician, best known for standing against Margaret Thatcher for the party leadership in 1989...
, who challenged and brought about the eventual defeat of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leadership. Although Meyer's bid failed, as was expected, it brought the leadership issue out into the open and flushed out who would defend Mrs. Thatcher and who was prepared to fly off as soon as an alternative leader presented themselves. Screened by Sir Anthony's distracting intervention, a 'Big Beast' could then observe who the targets were, where they were and how many there were. The Iron Lady would not see the real attack until a genuine and credible rival was in position, ready to attack. Meyer was so obscure that he was memorably referred to as 'the stalking donkey'.
Sure enough, assisted by this 'testing of the waters' or 'market-research', Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
(a Big Beast of the Party at the time) declared himself ready to stand for the leadership. Ultimately, this bid too was unsuccessful, as the Party produced an 'anyone but Heseltine' candidate, in the form of John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
. The stalking horse did not win the position of leader themselves, but did weaken the position of the existing leader sufficiently to flush out stronger challengers. Leading politicians seeking the highest political offices rarely take on the role of challengers themselves, usually preferring some lesser figure to provoke an artificial crisis first, in order then to be able to step in to the debate or the election, in order to 'resolve' the crisis, free from any taint of having engineered it in the first place.
A further example occurred in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in 1992, involving former Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party , more commonly known as Fianna Fáil is a centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland, founded on 23 March 1926. Fianna Fáil's name is traditionally translated into English as Soldiers of Destiny, although a more accurate rendition would be Warriors of Fál...
minister Seán Doherty, who had once been engulfed in a scandal over the revelation that as Minister for Justice
Minister for Justice
The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government...
he sanctioned the tapping
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
of two journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s' telephones. At the time of the scandal in 1982, Doherty claimed that then party leader Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
played no part in the tapping of the telephones. In 1992 however he changed his story and insisted that Haughey had been an active participant. In the resulting furore, Haughey, who was Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
, was forced to resign and was replaced by former Minister Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds , served as Taoiseach of Ireland, serving one term in office from 1992 until 1994. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...
. Media critics regarded Doherty as a stalking horse for Reynolds though both men denied any involvement in what the media alleged was a "staged crisis," Doherty insisting that he acted alone in provoking the crisis, without having consulted Reynolds, much less acted for him.
A more recent example of a stalking horse (though likely without prior coordination) can be seen in the example of the 2003 California recall. Dissatisfaction with then-California Governor
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
Gray Davis
Gray Davis
Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
led U.S. Representative Darrell Issa
Darrell Issa
Darrell Edward Issa is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 48th, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California-based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products...
, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, to mount a recall campaign
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
to oust Davis, using much of his own money. Issa managed to force the issue into a two-point referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
. The first point was on whether or not to replace Davis. The second point would have been to select a successor. Issa ran on the second point, and then several other candidates, one of whom was actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
/bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, entered the fray. Schwarzenegger's success in gaining traction on all other contenders led Issa to back out of the race.
In bankruptcy
In bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, a stalking horse bid
Stalking horse offer
A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is an attempt by a debtor to test the market in advance of an auction. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets as part of a bankruptcy court-approved auction process.- Procedure :...
is a first, favorable bid solicited by the bankrupt company strategically to prevent low-ball
Low-Ball
The low-ball is a persuasion and selling technique in which an item or service is offered at a lower price than is actually intended to be charged, after which the price is raised to increase profits....
offers.
See also
- CollusionCollusionCollusion is an agreement between two or more persons, sometimes illegal and therefore secretive, to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding others of their legal rights, or to obtain an objective forbidden by law typically by defrauding or gaining an unfair advantage...
- Sacrificial lambSacrificial lambA sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of Sin.-In politics:In politics, a...
- Paper candidatePaper candidateIn a representative democracy, the term paper candidate is often given to a candidate who stands for a political party in an electoral division where the party in question enjoys only low levels of support...
- Placeholder (politics)Placeholder (politics)In politics, a placeholder is an official appointed temporarily to a position, with the understanding that they will not seek office in their own right....
- Dark horseDark horseDark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...