The last time attendance was a big issue for us was high school organic chemistry class, to which we had to drag ourselves at 8 A.M. -- and often didn't make it. We scraped by, but barely.

Attendance records are properly the province of teachers and school administrators, not politicians. But Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has turned her unbroken attendance streak at Senate votes into a blunt instrument against her challenger, Maine Democratic Rep. Tom Allen.

As of mid-March, Collins had cast 3,764 roll call votes in a row during her more than 11 years in the Senate. On the stump, Collins has charged that Allen has missed 145 votes during his more than 11 years in Congress. "That tells you something in terms of commitment," said Collins at a Lewiston Republican Party dinner recently.

No, it doesn't.

Allen's 145 missed votes notwithstanding, the congressman has actually participated in 98 percent of House votes during his tenure.

While Collins' attendance record is an accomplishment, it's a big stretch to propose that it should provide a significant basis for evaluation of her record. Conversely, short of Allen missing a large number of votes -- say 10 percent or more -- we don't think his attendance record is a substantial issue.

Attendance at votes speaks nothing about the substance of those votes. And in the end, what Maine voters should focus on in this race and others are not diversionary tactics, but where candidates have stood and now stand on significant issues such as the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.