Toronto - Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty is being criticized for not being as inspiring and charismatic as Barack Obama — but he doesn’t need to be to hold his job.
Ontarians, as long as most can remember, have elected and re-elected premiers who provided as much inspiration and charisma as your uncle’s laundry list.
The criticism — McGuinty is not like the U.S. president-elect — has been made mainly by Progressive Conservatives. Ted Chudleigh said some may quibble with Obama’s policies, but he has attributes that make great leaders, including fresh ideas, a bold vision and the courage to create change. Chudleigh said Obama will bring innovative ideas to counter the current economic slowdown, while McGuinty has none. John O’Toole said Obama “is a leader with vision and hope and that’s what’s missing in this Liberal government.”
O’Toole claimed his party leader, John Tory, resembles Obama, because both are inclusive, consultative and visionary, but this may be slightly exaggerated, because Tory lacked the vision to foresee his proposal to fund faith-based schools would cost him last October’s election.
Conservative interim leader Bob Runciman added McGuinty has done nothing to inspire he can soften the economic slump and some news media have asked properly, where is Ontario’s Obama?
Obama is admired because he seems intelligent, confident, articulate and trustworthy (although he lacks a track record to prove the latter), broke a historic barrier by becoming the first black elected president, and prompted the biggest percentage turnout of voters in the U.S. in a century.
But McGuinty won, not because he exuded charisma, but because voters lost enthusiasm for his Conservative predecessors, after they cut taxes but weakened services.
McGuinty chipped away at them in two elections, but never made a speech anyone called inspiring. His most remembered words are his 2003 election slogan, “choose change,” but this was copied.
The only premier in this period, who might be said to have inspired voters, was Harris, who captured a widespread longing with his promises to cut government taxes and zoomed from third party to government. But it was Harris’s policies, not any personal characteristics, that won for him — it could not be said he had charisma.
New Democrat Bob Rae, a Rhodes Scholar, was the premier most admired for his intellect, but won government because voters had turned out the Conservatives after 42 years, then the Liberals after five years, and were not prepared to bring back the Conservatives so quickly. Rae had the best command of words, but not much emotion, and there was no suggestion he had charisma.
David Peterson won by looking young and energetic when the ancient regime of the Conservatives was ready to fall. John Robarts was called “chairman of the board” and had the stiffness that goes with the title, and Leslie Frost was genial, but remote.
The only leader with charisma was Stephen Lewis, whose oratory 30 years later has university students lining up to hear him describe the horrors of sickness in Africa, on which he has become an expert. But Lewis was leader of the NDP and when Ontarians had a chance to choose charisma, there were other issues — of course, they opted against it.
Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen’s Park press gallery.
