Stalking horse

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A stalking horse is someone or something whose role is to become the focal point for, or the initiator of, a debate or challenge. In reality, however, their leadership role may be an illusion, and the stalking horse is really working to promote a challenge or debate that will benefit a third party whose identity remains a secret. ^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

In bankruptcy, a stalking horse bid is a first, favorable bid solicited by the bankrupt company strategically to prevent low ball offers. ^[4] ^[5]

The phenomenon occurs particularly in politics, 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.

1 Origin of the term
2 Examples in politics
3 An example in bankruptcy
4 An example in film
5 References
6 See also

[edit] Origin of the term

The term stalking horse originally derived from the practice of hunting^[1], particularly of wildfowl^[6]. Hunters noticed that many birds would flee immediately on the approach of humans, but would tolerate the close presence of animals such as horses 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 "fake" or pantomime horse -style outfits would be used.

[edit] Examples in politics

In some cases, a single lead candidate, though desiring to benefit from a crisis, may be described as a stalking horse. A classic example was Sir Anthony Meyer^[7] ^[8], who challenged and brought about the eventual defeat of Margaret Thatcher in the Conservative Party leadership. Although Meyer's initial bid failed (as expected), it brought the issue out of the closet and to the table.^{[citation needed]}

Following this, Michael Heseltine (a senior political figure at the time) put his own name up for the leadership in a further ballot, although he eventually lost to Thatcher's heir-apparent, John Major. As with Meyer, stalking horses rarely win the position of leader themselves, but can weaken the position of the current leader enough for stronger challengers to emerge. Leading politicians seeking political power rarely take on the role of stalking horse themselves, usually preferring to allow some third party to trigger the staged crisis first, then afterward suggesting that they are entering the debate or the election because it is occurring, not because they caused it to occur.

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 journalists' 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^[9]. 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-Governor Gray Davis led U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) 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.

[edit] An example in bankruptcy

On October 22, 2007 technology company SCO asked a bankruptcy court to approve a deal whereby a purchaser would acquire "substantially all assets used by the Company in connection with its SCO UNIX Business and certain related claims in litigation." ^[10] The agreement included a "stalking horse" provision: If the purchaser, York Capital Management, were to be designated as a stalking horse in subsequent bidding for SCO's assets, and if others outbid York, then SCO would have to pay York a $780,000 breakup fee and reimbursement of all expenses incurred by York up to $300,000. In this way, York would earn its expenses and $780,000 by acting as the stalking horse and preventing other bidders from making lower offers. ^[11]

[edit] An example in film

Jeremiah Johnson and Bear Claw Chris Lapp are hunting elk in the Rockies ^[12]

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!