Standing in front of a collection of vegetables at a truck depot where he was announcing that a re-elected Conservative government would cut two cents a litre from the excise tax on diesel fuel this morning, Stephen Harper was asked the inevitable question: If you were a vegetable, which one would you be?

In a rarely-seen moment for the prime minister, he was temporarily at a loss for words.

He looked behind at the veggie array, considering his options — cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower.

Then he had his answer: "I would choose to be a fruit — because they're sweet and colorful, like me."

His communications staff later noted they'd failed to brief him on that question ahead of time but enjoyed his answer nonetheless.