Real people – used by politicians to humanise a political argument – have been nicknamed skutnicks.
Lenny Skutnick was a special guest at President Ronald Reagan’s 1982 State of the Union Address to Congress. Mr Skutnick got to sit in the balcony of Congress because of the heroism that he had displayed two weeks previously – rescuing survivors from an Air Florida plane crash. Mr Skutnick, a government officeworker, had jumped into the cold waters of the Potomac river to save the lives of the plane’s passengers. President Reagan referred to Mr Skutnick’s valour in his speech and asked members of Congress to applaud him. TV cameras filmed Mr Skutnick receiving the applause of America’s most senior elected officials.
Since 1982 no State of the Union speech has gone by without the President of the day turning his head up to his left, in order to introduce a living embodiment of his argument. These living embodiments have been called skutnicks after Lenny. Tony Blair was a skutnick in 2001. It was nine days after 9/11 and Mr Blair stood alongside First Lady Laura Bush as George W Bush paid tribute to him and to the United Kingdom. “America has no truer friend than Great Britain,” the President said, before continuing: “Once again, we are joined together in a great cause. I’m so honored the British Prime Minister has crossed an ocean to show his unity of purpose with America. Thank you for coming, friend.” Tony Blair was filmed nodding appreciatively from the gallery.
The greatest Skutnick moment
For the 2005 State of the Union speech George W Bush had discovered a bevy of Skutnicks. To embody the need for medical liability reforms the White House had flown in Dr Karen Liebert, an obstetrician. Dr Liebert had stopped delivering babies because of prohibitive insurance premiums. Dairy farmer Robert Wright had journeyed from Utah to back the President’s social security plans. But the star skutnicks were Safia Taleb al-Suhail, an Iraqi voter, and Doreen Norwood, the grieving mother of a US marine who had been killed by snipers in the battle for Fallujah.
A few days earlier Ms Suhail had voted in Iraq’s first democratic elections. President Bush paid tribute to the heroism of this woman: “Three days ago in Baghdad, Safia was finally able to vote for the leaders of her country, and we are honored that she is with us tonight.” The Congress applauded this woman who stood for the President’s belief in democratic peace.
President Bush then paid tribute to Mrs Norwood:
”One name we honor is Marine Corps Sergeant Byron Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas, who was killed during the assault on Fallujah. His mom, Janet, sent me a letter and told me how much Byron loved being a Marine, and how proud he was to be on the front line against terror. She wrote, "When Byron was home the last time, I said that I wanted to protect him like I had since he was born. He just hugged me and said, 'You've done your job, Mom. Now it is my turn to protect you.'" Ladies and gentlemen, with grateful hearts, we honor freedom's defenders, and our military families, represented here this evening by Sergeant Norwood's mom and dad, Janet and Bill Norwood.”
There then followed an extraordinary moment as a tearful Mrs Norwood was embraced by Ms Suhail. The two women’s hug symbolised the sacrifices and hopefulness of the President’s Iraq policy. London’s Times reported “how hardened politicians wept at the spectacle”.
British skutnicks
The Labour and Conservative parties have also used skutnicks to provide otherwise grey stories with a human interest angle. British experience illustrates the danger of using human props for political purposes. Most famous was 1992’s War Over Jennifer’s Ear. A Labour election broadcast alleged that five year-old Jennifer Bennett had had to wait an excruciating eleven months for a much-needed ear operation. Labour wanted to highlight public concern at NHS waiting lists. The whole debate became sensationalised when one of Jennifer’s parents objected to Labour’s use of her, and when the Tories questioned some of the facts deployed by Labour.
Ten years later Iain Duncan Smith lit the blue touch paper when he raised the case of Rose Addis at Prime Minister’s Question Time (PMQs). Mr Duncan Smith had complained about the NHS’ treatment of pensioner Mrs Addis. Labour officials appeared then to try and smear Mrs Addis as a racist granny. A doctor at Mrs Addis’ hospital who criticised IDS was then exposed as an active Labour supporter.
Michael Howard has had his own difficulties with using skutnicks at PMQs. Mr Howard used whistleblower Steve Moxon to highlight Labour’s immigration policy shambles. Unfortunately newspapers then alleged that Mr Moxon had said that Muslims will "eventually will have to be silenced by nuclear weapons". A few months later Mr Howard was in trouble again after he raised a constituent’s NHS experience only to find that the reported delay in treatment had been badly exaggerated.
Skutnicks can bring otherwise complex stories alive and avoid the need for lots of statistics. But if their stories and their own views aren’t fully researched they can backfire on the politicians who use them.
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