First Term As Opposition Leader
McGuinty's first term in opposition was difficult. He was often criticized for lacking charisma and being uncomfortable in the media scrums, and was described as ineffective by the province's tabloid press. The governing Progressive Conservatives played up McGuinty's low profile by defining him as "not up to the job" in a series of television advertisements. His internal management of the Liberal Party was also criticized by some.
McGuinty's performance in the early weeks of the 1999 provincial election was also widely criticized, and he was generally regarded as having performed poorly in the election's only leaders' debate. He was also criticized when, in response to a question by late CITY-TV journalist Colin Vaughan, he described Mike Harris as a "thug".
McGuinty's Liberals nevertheless won support from many progressive voters who had previously supported the Ontario New Democratic Party, but who hoped to defeat the governing Conservatives by strategic voting. The Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected, but McGuinty was able to rally his party in the election's closing days and drew 40% of the popular vote for the Liberals, the party's second-best performance in fifty years. The Liberal Party also increased its seat total in the Legislature from 30 to 36. McGuinty himself faced a surprisingly difficult re-election in Ottawa South, but defeated his Progressive Conservative opponent by about 3,000 votes.
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