OKAY, ENOUGH ABOUT VIETNAM: Let’s talk about something more recent. Here’s the latest from the Annenberg outfit, FactCheck.org:

A Bush-Cheney ’04 ad released Aug. 13 accuses Kerry of being absent for 76% of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s public hearings during the time he served there. The Kerry campaign calls the ad “misleading,” so we checked, and Bush is right.

Official records show Kerry not present for at least 76% of public hearings held during his eight years on the panel, and possibly 78% (the record of one hearing is ambiguous).

Kerry points out that most meetings of the Intelligence Committee are closed and attendance records of those meetings aren’t public, hinting that his attendance might have been better at the non-public proceedings. But Kerry could ask that his attendance records be made public, and hasn’t.

Aides also claimed repeatedly that Kerry had been vice chairman of the intelligence committee, but that was Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, not John Kerry. . . .

If anything, the ad understates Kerry’s lack of attendance.

Ouch. Maybe that’s why he wants to talk about Vietnam. (Here’s a link to the ad.)

UPDATE: Reader Hunter McDaniel emails:

The “misleading” aspect of the Bush ad isn’t whether the attendance numbers are accurate – they probably are. Rather it is the implicit assumption that the public hearings are a valuable use of a Senator’s time and that attendance is a direct measure of a Senator’s effectiveness. Maybe, maybe not. In my limited viewing of C-SPAN I see mostly grandstanding and posturing which isn’t a very good use of ANYONE’s time.

If I were a reporter, I might also ask what the attendance records of other committee members were for comparison. And how are the attendance records kept – what happens when a Senator comes for the first 30 minutes, goes out to a speaking engagement, and comes back for the wrap-up?

Attendance/voting records are a favorite target of negative ads from both parties. I generally blow them off as meaningless.

Hmm. Could be, and the general point is certainly valid. But what makes the commercial effective is this: First, we’re at war, and this is the Intelligence Committee that Kerry’s been AWOL from, not Agriculture. Second, Kerry’s talking about how he’ll make intelligence reform a top priority if elected, but this makes it look as if he hasn’t made it a priority before. And besides, “grandstanding and posturing” is pretty much a Senator’s job description, right? If we can’t talk about that, what’s left? Vietnam?

UPDATE: Reader Bradly Roger Bettin emails:

The argument (“Public hearings are for posturing”) would have more power if Kerry authorized a release of the attendance records from the closed sessions of the Intelligence Committee during his tenure as a member.

If, for example, Kerry’s attendance at the closed sessions was 98%, then it’d support the claim that he was there for the important stuff, but just wasn’t interested in the posturing which goes on at public hearings.

To date, though, Kerry hasn’t authorized release of the attendance records, which suggests he doesn’t believe they’d help him. And the hints dropped by those who have reason to know what’s in them suggest his attendance at the closed sessions isn’t good either.

That Kerry wanted to cut funding for intelligence by draconian amounts suggests he didn’t see much use for the intelligence community back then – and it wouldn’t be surprised to see that sort of scorn show up in his Intelligence Committee attendance.

As the Annenberg folks note, he could have released these (just as, I’ll note, he could release his military records) but he didn’t, suggesting that whatever’s in them won’t help his position.