QUOTED: Andrea Horwath makes a funny for the Queen’s Park press corps

“Look, I’m a woman. I know you don’t give it all up at once.”

That was new Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath yesterday at Queen’s Park, explaining why she wasn’t revealing her campaign platform in its entirety in front of a hoard of journalists. The line sent the press corps into a rare laughing fit, in part because, hold the presses, it was actually funny, and in part because when politicians go off-script, it often ends in (hilarious) disaster.

Sure, she’s no Jimmy McMillan, but at least Horwath, a rookie party leader, isn’t shy about letting her real personality shine and offering something beyond the usual fare of bland, over-prepared political gab. Some in the local media felt the need to justify her “act of rebellion,” killing all the fun in the process and leaving us to wonder what decade we’re in (we also wonder how they would react if they had to cover British Parliament). We say kudos to the NDP leader for having a bit of fun. We hope for more zingers in the future.

• Cohn: Humour, instincts pay off for Horwath [Toronto Star]