海角大神

Herman Cain and Mitt Romney both tout their business experience on the campaign stump. The economy is in terrible shape, they say, and it will take a president who understands the private sector to jump-start job creation and get the country moving forward again.

But what they don鈥檛 say is this: CEOs are not all alike. Their skills are different, their businesses are different, and they operate in unique microeconomic circumstances. Given that, which ex-corporate honcho GOP candidate might be better suited as commander in chief?

We鈥檒l start with Mr. Cain, who used to be CEO of Godfather鈥檚 Pizza. By most accounts his tenure there was a success. On his campaign website Cain says that the firm was 鈥渢eetering on the edge of bankruptcy鈥� when he took over, and that in just 14 months he returned the firm to profitability and led his management team to a buyout of the company.

The thing about pizza is that it is pretty much a commodity business. Certainly there are differences in pie quality, but pizza joints are everywhere, and they compete ferociously on location and price. Marketing is everything 鈥� and it appears that Cain鈥檚 ability to simplify his message, and communicate it, proves his mettle as a very good marketer.

For instance, among Cain鈥檚 big moves at Godfather鈥檚 was development of the 鈥淏ig Deal,鈥� , to compete with similar offerings from other chains, according to an interesting article on Cain鈥檚 Godfather鈥檚 years in the Omaha World-Herald.

Cain鈥檚 marketing skills are in full evidence in his campaign. His 鈥�9-9-9鈥� tax plan is a simple, memorable concept, whatever its conceptual flaws. He mentions the phrase 9-9-9 whenever he gets a chance. It鈥檚 the Big Deal pizza of economic policies.

鈥淢y message is appealing because it鈥檚 simple and people can understand it,鈥� said Cain Sunday during an interview on NBC鈥檚 鈥�Meet the Press.鈥�

Mitt Romney, in contrast, ran Bain Capital, a private equity firm. That鈥檚 a dealmaking and operational business in which marketing is much less of a CEO concern.

Mr. Romney鈥檚 work was data-driven, as he sifted through numbers to turn around failing businesses, or get new ones off the ground. In the last GOP presidential debate, Romney promoted his role in starting now-familiar firms such as Sports Authority and Staples.

In part, this was to shield himself against charges that he鈥檇 laid off thousands of employees as part of his turnaround work. But it was also a means of contrasting the operational complexity of his CEO stint with that of Cain鈥檚.

At one point in the debate, Cain challenged Romney to name all the 59 points in his (Romney鈥檚) 160-page economic turnaround plan, and to say whether they were simple and transparent. Romney took the chance to jab back with his view of how the private sector works.

鈥淗erman, I鈥檝e had the experience in my life of taking on some tough problems,鈥� said Romney. "And I must admit the simple answers are always helpful, but sometimes inadequate.鈥�

So what鈥檚 the bottom line here? Who would be the best CEO for America? The sunny marketer or the numbers-guy wonk?

Well, the executive branch is a vast, complex web of different activities, from the Pentagon to Social Security. In that sense it more closely resembles Bain than Godfather鈥檚. Presidents must be able to handle many different problems arriving at once 鈥� an Oval Office day can seem like drinking from a fire hose.

Romney鈥檚 experience, in that sense, is more apropos. But running the executive branch isn鈥檛 all a president does. They also control the bully pulpit 鈥� and rally the nation at times of stress. Think George W. Bush with a bullhorn at the World Trade Center site after 9/11, or Barack Obama in the still-desperate economic times of the beginning of his term.

That鈥檚 something a marketer would be best at. Selling your policies to the nation and Congress is marketing, too. That鈥檚 what Mr. Obama is doing today as he pushes for lawmakers to consider his jobs bill.

So our conclusion is that the skill set of an ideal president might contain both a marketing and operational side. Maybe Cain and Romney could run as a ticket. Who鈥檇 be president, and who鈥檇 be the veep? That鈥檚 something Republican voters could determine in the upcoming primaries.