After doing a little research today, apparently the foot-pumps are somewhat slow and potentially awkward (if you are in heavy seas, don't you want to be braced in tightly, instead of removing one foot from its foot brace to pump with?) And yes, there is the issue of diminished foot-room. I was planning to use that extra space between my feet and the bulkhead for storage.
So at this point I'm leaning towards an automatic electric bilge pump. See Gnarlydog's blog http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/2009/04/shop-electric-bilge-pump-in-kayak.html where he mentions somebody having had success with the Rule 500 automatic electric bilge pump. Seems like it's fairly simple to install, compact, very reliable, and a no-brainer in a pressure situation. You can stay braced in and continue to paddle with the pump doing all the work for you. And, since it will be installed behind the seat, the installation and access will be much easier than trying to mount something so far forward in the cockpit.
My biggest worry was the reliability of the electric pump, but from what I can tell the Rule pumps are quite reliable.
Yeah, I think I'm pretty much settled on this.

: Slower than a hand-pump? Any suggested improvements?
: Another disadvantage that occurs to me is that it'll take up
: valuable foot-space. I use my front bulkhead, padded with
: 1" of foam, as my footbrace. A pump will definitely
: restrict "stretching" room. But I am still thinking of
: going ahead. In the sorts of conditions that I would actually
: need it (for real, as opposed to practice sessions), my hands
: might be a bit busy.