Vote for me: often my haste is a mistake!

Here’s an interesting piece by Jonah Lehrer, describing the US election as “a contest between two modes of thinking” – McCain’s instinctive decisions vs Obama’s deliberative ones:

McCain has been working diligently to distance himself from Bush, but he proudly places himself in the president's decision-making camp. "I don't torture myself over decisions. I make them as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can," he wrote in his 2002 book, "Worth the Fighting For." "Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint."

The trouble is that when you’re president, 300 million other people have to live with the consequences as well.

But, on the other hand, “a more deliberative style brings its own set of problems, such as losing sight of the most relevant information and even a debilitating indecisiveness”.

Another idle thought occurs: contrasting British and American politics, it’s easy to group Brown with McCain (‘experience’) and Cameron with Obama (‘change’). But in terms of decision-making style, Brown is more clearly with Obama in being information-hungry and deliberative, whereas Cameron (like McCain) seems to fly more by the seat of his pants.