“Kerry was in full straddle mode”

From the Boston Globe book review of the forthcoming biography on J. Francois Kerry:

The picture the book paints of Kerry is often not very flattering. He comes off as a driven politician with no compass, only a finger to the wind. With polls showing many Americans don't yet know Kerry, the mushiness outlined by the Globe could prove Kerry's undoing in what is expected to be a close presidential campaign.

Sounds about right.