Barrel Strength

One of the things that was unusual about SOTU address yesterday was that Obama, when mentioning a person, did not use names.  This is unusual for presidents who like to weave a personal narrative.  An example is as follows.

Talk to the small business in Phoenix that will triple its workforce because of the Recovery Act.

Talk to the window manufacturer in Philadelphia who said he used to be skeptical about the Recovery Act, until he had to add two more work shifts just because of the business it created.

Talk to the single teacher raising two kids who was told by her principal in the last week of school that because of the Recovery Act, she wouldn’t be laid off after all.

Are these real people or figment of Axelrod’s imagination?  Perhaps there is another reason why they are not named, along the lines of what was first enforced by Obama’s fellow African Mobutu Sese-Seko.

At one point, in early 1975, the media was even forbidden from mentioning by name anyone but Mobutu; others were referred to only by the positions they held.