His friends say he is just instinctively nuanced in his thinking. That may be closer to the mark. According to Webster's Dictionary, the etymology of nuance is from the middle French (Hmm!) word nuer: to make shades of color; from nue: clouds, akin to the Greek; nythos: dark. That would seem to be Mr. Kerry's problem. He thinks and talks in shades that create clouds and darkness around him. No one knows what he is saying, and thus what he is thinking. This makes things rather awkward for an American politician.

 The rhetoric of American politics is binary, not gradational: Give me liberty or give me death; our nation cannot exist half slave and half free; are you pro life or pro choice; are you for or against capital punishment; pro or anti-war; for or against tax cuts.

 Some cultures admire subtlety of thought and expression in their politicians. No, not just the French. The Chinese, the Hindus, the old Persian culture all admire such traits in their leaders. But the Anglo-Saxon cultures, and preeminently we Americans, admire decisiveness and clarity. We instinctively suspect deceit or indecision where we hear subtlety. We are often right to do so.

 Seeing seven sides to an issue is useful in the study of metaphysics. But men of action -- and world events always have required American presidents to be men of action -- must be capable of decisive action. A candidate for president who is incapable of clearly expressing a single principle or goal he will fight for is inevitably going to be an ineffective candidate. And if he can't even decide what to say with clarity, he is unlikely to be able to act as president under the crushing pressure of world events.

 John Kerry's personality drives him to hedge -- a fatal instinct when running against a decisive Bush.