Who's phoning it in, exactly?

Jay Tea at Wizbang addresses a popular liberal meme, the one about how W is always on vacation. Since we're dumping Bush because he's such a terrible president, surely any viable Dem candidate would score better than him on oft-repeated pseudoscandals like this one, right?

Nope.

But while we're on the subject, let's look at his rivals. Senators Kerry and Edwards have been on extended "vacations" since the start of their campaigns. And the main duties of senators are to attend meetings and cast votes. Kerry has missed about 90% of all votes in the Senate in the current term, and Edwards is right up there. And it's on record that Kerry has missed nearly all the public meetings of the Senate Intelligence Committee since 9/11.

This really goes to show the character of these two men. They've not bothered to fulfill their sworn duties as Senators, yet still maintain the title and collect the pay. The citizens of Massachusetts and North Carolina are paying for two Senators, but only getting any service from one each.

When Bob Dole ran for president in 1996, he resigned his Senate seat (which he probably could have held safely for life) so as to not short-change his constituents in Kansas. It's a pity Kerry and Edwards don't have one smidgen of his sense of responsibility.

Like Jay says, the office of POTUS is not like other jobs. You're never alone, you're always on the spot, and you must be ready for absolutely anything. Apparently being a Senator is the exact opposite: you don't even have to show up.