There are plenty of ways to go after Sen. John Kerry – his flip-flops regarding the war in Iraq and his votes for the “No Child Left Behind” Act and the USA PATRIOT Act are all highly suspect. Yet the one criticism dominating the news this week has been the charge that Kerry lied about his service record in Vietnam.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that claims to be non-partisan in nature despite its ties to the Bush administration, recently released two TV ads attacking Kerry’s credibility.

The ads show a montage of 13 veterans who claim to have served in Vietnam with Kerry. They claim Kerry has “lied” about his war record and that his 1971 Senate testimony regarding Vietnam atrocities “betrayed” and “dishonored” his fellow officers and country.

What the ads don’t reveal is that only one of the men actually served on a swift boat with Kerry – and never during the period when Kerry won his first Purple Heart, Bronze Star or Silver Star. The rest either commanded boats that went on missions with Kerry’s boat or served in Vietnam around the same time he did.

In addition, part of Kerry’s 1971 testimony included reports of what other Vietnam veterans said at a conference. Instead of providing context, the ads attribute these quotes as being Kerry’s own. Lastly, the medic who accuses him of exaggerating a superficial wound so that he could receive a Purple Heart has no medical documents to back his claim.

In fact, of the 12 men who served with Kerry on swift boats, 11 support him – most of whom appeared onstage with the candidate at the Democratic National Convention.

Thus, those who believe these advertisements are being misled. And really, this wouldn’t be the first time character assassination was employed as a tactic to defeat a candidate.

What’s frustrating is the lack of platform-based criticism of mainstream candidates. While character is important, it shouldn’t be the primary reason for picking one candidate over another. Bush and Kerry both have questions that need to be answered regarding their positions on the economy, education, the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism.

Instead, one side attacks Bush’s ambiguous record in the Texas National Guard and the other attacks Kerry’s war record in Vietnam. While we suspect the swift boat ads are meant to undermine Kerry’s military service and imply Bush’s is better (which we believe is completely futile), the debate is still a non-issue.

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth claim “the time has come to set the record straight.” But in reality, their ads accomplish nothing more than to manipulate uninformed voters and turn well-informed voters off from the voting process.