Which side is pro-business? That's obvious, right? President Bush is a businessman, having run an oil company and the Texas Rangers baseball team. Vice President Cheney is former CEO of Halliburton. On the flip side, not only did Sen. John Kerry make that remark about "Benedict Arnold CEOs," but he chose as his running mate a trial lawyer who made his bones--literally and figuratively--in high-stakes liability cases against big companies.

However, that may be too simplistic. Kerry doesn't strike me as stupid (translation: anti-business). And Edwards--let's just say Ralph Nader makes him look like Jack Welch. So maybe it's a case of the pro-business ticket and the more pro-business ticket.

Perhaps more important, does pro-business necessarily translate to pro-IT? Or is one side pro-IT and the other more pro-IT? That's the question we set out to answer in this week's cover story, "A Vote For IT" (p. 34). Senior editor Larry Greenemeier contacted the candidates' campaigns, studied their speeches, talked with their advisers, and solicited input from business-technology executives. What emerged was a good deal of consensus on the most pressing issues and some significant differences in approach.

Speaking of different approaches, Microsoft's entering a market--say, RFID--usually elicits cries of anguish from competitors and high fives from users seeking lower prices and easier tools. That's the promise, anyway, as senior editor-at-large John Foley and associate editor Laurie Sullivan point out (p. 22).

Does IT policy figure into the candidate you'll choose? Take our informal poll at informationweek.com/998/poll.htm. Stephanie Stahl is back this week, and she'll welcome your opinions at sstahl@cmp.com.

John Soat
Editor
jsoat@cmp.com