He is daft. The SBVFT assert that Kerry is Unfit for Command. They will not stop, until their rationale for reaching that conclusion is clear to the public.
If Kerry can't co-opt the SBVFT and I agree with you, he won't, he will try to isolate them by issuing a non-apology apology and say that we must go forward from Vietnam and focus on what is best for the Amercian people now. It will be a variation of "I did not have sex with that woman ...and now I have to go back to work for the American people." Kerry will try to paint the SBVFT as people holding a grudge and living in the past. He will say it is time to move on.