The cool and unemotional Leader

Amm, no, I'm not talking about Mr. Harper... I'm actually talking about Mr. McGuinty.

Is it just me, or does Dalton McGuinty himself not look wooden, unemotional, and not much like a people person? For example, what's with this "five feet rule" during press conferences? I think the Jeri Hall incident the other day helped expose that, he's totally uncomfortable with people getting too close. And just take a look at ANY footage of the guy talking... I can't recall EVER seeing any emotion on the guy's face whatsoever! (except for that one election ad where he attacks Faith Based Schools, where he almost seemed gleeful... but of course, who wouldn't have been in his position on that issue) And Liberals say Mr. Harper is emotionless?

I'm sorry, but the folks who say that Mr. Harper is cool, unemotional, and not really a people person are just plain wrong. Having met him a bunch of times, I have to say I disagree. He can work the crowd with the best of them when attending an event, and one on one, he's a really nice guy, who shows a real interest in you when he's talking to you. (we talked about blogging for crying out loud... he told me his wife reads them all the time, or at least she did back then)

Anyway, this little rant is just pointing out the fact that when you put them side by side, Mr. McGuinty is WAY more wooden and unemotional than Mr. Harper. Go ahead, I dare you, look up various press conferences or Question Period footage and compare. You've got to admit, there's something to what I've said.

Here's an example of what I mean... went to YouTube, and used the following searches... "mcguinty press conference" and "harper press conference", and used the first relevant link for both men. Then searched for "mcguinty question period" and "harper question period", and again used the first relevant videos for both men. I used the first videos available for each search in order to be fair, sort of like a random sampling. Seriously, compare the two men for yourself...

Press Conferences




Question Period

(skip to the 0:26, 2:13 and 4:03 marks for McGuinty's replies... does he even look the Speaker in the eye? For the record, I'll admit that he's slightly more emotional as of the 4:03 mark)


(skip to the 2:20 and 3:58 marks for Harper's English replies... and at least he's consistantly looking the person he's speaking to in the eye, not looking down at the floor)

Can you seriously say that Mr. Harper is the cooler or less emotional one of the two?