(Source: Business Week)Americans are in the heart of that once-every-four-years phenomenon where the Democrats and Republicans try to shape the image of their respective candidates with never-ending political rhetoric, images, videos, and music. All this hoopla is aimed at getting their candidate elected President. But it doesn't tell us what we really need to know.

Honestly speaking, voters should ignore all this political image-shaping. Instead, they should try to determine the type of leader John McCain or Barack Obama would be in the world's most powerful leadership position.

We've been fooled before by political rhetoric. Remember the "compassionate conservatism" campaign of President George W. Bush in 2000? He proved to be neither compassionate nor truly conservative, as evidenced by his profligate spending and the deficit he has run up. In 1992, Bill Clinton ran on a health-care platform of "managed competition" that turned out a plan that was anything but competitive and almost sank his Presidency. Going farther back in history, Lyndon Johnson envisioned in 1964 a Great Society and instead left us mired in Vietnam. In 1968, Richard Nixon promised to "win the peace in Vietnam," and wound up extending the war until 1974.

Bottom line: Don't judge politicians on their promises. Judge them on their leadership.

How capable a leader would John McCain or Barack Obama be as President? Since neither one has ever led [BusinessWeek, 8/26/08] a large, complex organization, we need to examine their backgrounds and their campaign organizations in order to gain crucial insights into this question.

A Few Similarities The good news is that both men are authentic leaders. They have openly shared their life stories with the American people. Both have been tested: McCain by his ordeal as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam and Obama by the absence of his father and confusion over his racial identity as a teenager. With the notable exception of McCain's marital infidelity to his first wife, both candidates operate from a clear set of principles and seem to have lived lives of integrity.

But that's where the similarities end.

All his life John McCain has been a solo performer: as a fighter pilot, a prisoner of war, a congressional aide, congressman, and senator. In the U.S. Senate he has frequently stood against the Republican Party on issues like campaign financing and sided with Democrats like Senators Edward Kennedy and Russell Feingold. His independence has earned him the image of a maverick.

Since announcing his candidacy for President this time around, McCain's campaign has been anything but well organized. His organization has experienced high turnover, frequent resignations, terminations, and regular shifts in focus.