This morning while watching CTV they showed a quick bit about Steven Harper. It was a fluff piece far as I could tell, but it showed Steven Harper dropping his kids off at school. Now we all know that Steven Harper is a bit socially retarded; let's face it, the quirky, uncomfortable smiles, the fairly monotone tone he uses almost all time...he's not exactly ra-ra, and not exactly comfortable in the spotlight. But that's ok, I don't think that should seriously impact our judgement of him as a Prime Minister (although it's still a bit weird). We'll judge him as a Prime Minister for what he does for us (and so far that's been absolutely nothing, transition my ass, where's my GST cut and $1,200 for my kid?) The thing that caught my attention, and it was mentioned again on the radio as I was driving to work -- why didn't Steven Harper hug his children? True, he was in front of a camera, and that can be a bit awkward (although he better get used to it for his own good), but for heaven's sake, Steven, they're your children. Even George Bush has hugged his kids on TV hasn't he? In fact, George Bush has even hugged other people's kids... Instead of hugging them as he dropped them off at school he shook their hands. If you ask me, it's just plain bizarre. And while no one probably paid that much attention to the incident today, each of these little, quirky things is going to add up to an image of Harper that he's so carefully tried to craft. Eventually people are going to say, "does he even like his kids?" Or, "does he even have a soul?" I wish Harper the best of luck, not because I voted for him, but because he's now the man in charge, and as long as I live in Canada I want Canada to be a good place to live. I want better health care, better daycare, less taxes, safe streets and palm trees. Yup, that's right, I'm the president of the special interest group known as "Bring Out Our Palms" (or BOOP). I don't care where you come from, shaking your young kids' hands as they go to school is plain old odd. And Steven doesn't want to look odd in front of the Canadian people. Governing isn't just about number crunching, deal brokering, going into deficit, scandals, and stealing all our money. It's about image too. PS. Arm our border guards, Harper. I'll support that any day. (Technorati Tags: steven harper, canadian politics, canada)