This won’t tip me off the fence — but it does make me hungry

Jacob M. Schlesinger has a front-pager in the Wall Street Journal on ther contrasting management styles of John F. Kerry and George W. Bush (subscription required). The article is really all about Kerry’s decision-making style, both pro and con. Not much of note, except for this section where methinks Kerry doth protest too much about being more than just a legislator:

Mr. Kerry bristles at unfavorable comparisons to Mr. Bush’s management experience. “I think I have far more executive leadership than this president,” he says, referring to his stint in Vietnam “leading men into and out of war.” Mr. Kerry touts his other management experience as well. In Massachusetts, he briefly helped run the Middlesex County district attorney’s office — “one of the 10 largest district attorney’s offices in America,” he notes. Mr. Kerry also said that over the past year he has “put together a multimillion-dollar campaign operation,” that has generated revenue, in the form of campaign donations, of more than $200 million, a record for his party. The campaign currently employs several hundred people. At times he also has pointed to his late 1970s foray into the private sector, when he cofounded a small Boston cookie shop. (emphasis added)

Whoa — he started a cookie store? That tips the scales for me!! Actually, if the cookie shop in question was Rosie’s Bakery, that would be persuasive evidence for Kerry (this is where Erika and I got our wedding cake made). Convention bloggers, be sure to check it out!! Or, you can order online. Seriously, here’s some poll results from the Annenberg Public Policy Center on where Bush and Kerry stand on the leadership question:

UPDATE: Hmmm… Brad DeLong has thoughts on the story, but mysteriously omits any reference to cookie shops. Somewhat more seriously, Janet Hook, Mary Curtius and Greg Miller have a blow-by-blow account of Kerry’s decision-making process in the votes on Iraq in the Los Angeles Times.