Harper serves coffee, and cats

Stephen Harper attempted to look like he was leaving the bubble today.

First he stopped at a Tim Horton's in Dieppe, N.B.

He got behind the counter and handed out coffee to customers.

When there were no more customers, his wife Laureen asked for a coffee, medium black. "You should know that," she teased.

Then she told him he had to pay for it.

After a quick search through his pockets, Harper fessed up he had no money.

Someone on the campaign staff paid instead.

Harper also talked to a few people in the crowd. Many of them were Conservative supporters, told to come to the coffee shop.

One of them even had on a blue Harper sticker.

Then the Conservative leader tried his luck with animals, stopping at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Inside, he had a photo opportunity with Shortbread, a grey tabby, who seemed happy to stay, once a bowl of food was put out.

Harper told reporters, "If you're voting for a politician who is a dog person, you're voting for a person who wants to be loved. If you're voting for a person who is a cat person, you're voting for someone who wants to serve."

He first used that joke in 2008 when he was running against the former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, who has a dog named Kyoto.

However, the current Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, has a cat.

And what about politicians who have fish?