by Peter Brown
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have widely divergent decision-making styles, a reflection of the reality that human beings are products, and sometimes prisoners, of their training.
But perhaps as interesting is that the differences between the way these Democratic and Republican White House nominees go about making decisions pretty much follows the pattern of presidential candidates over the past quarter century.
It may have something to do with the fact that the Democrats generally nominate lawyers and Republicans don't.
In fact, Al Gore in 2000 was the only Democratic nominee since Jimmy Carter -- one of only two Democratic presidents since 1964 -- who was not an attorney.
The only lawyer Republican nominee since 1976 was Sen. Bob Dole, and he lost the election.
Peter Brown is assistant director for the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. See the rest of his column about McCain and Obama decision-making in the Wall Street Journal's online Political Perceptions.
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