Believe it or not, presidents and presidential candidates are real people. They have human flaws. They even sometimes have—as former President Jimmy Carter once said in a Playboy interview—lust in their hearts.

The national media has made headline news out of something most people would expect to see only in a “truth-to-tell” story in a tabloid. Republican candidate Pat Robertson and Democratic candidate Jesse Jackson both became first-time fathers rather soon after their marriages.

No one has explained what relevance this has to the two men’s qualifications to be President of the United States. Perhaps it’s supposed to show inconsistency between their positions as ministers in the Baptist Church and their “true” personal characters.

President Reagan also became a father in rather short order after marrying Nancy, but no one made an issue of it when he ran for President. Or since. But he was an actor, not a minister—that must be the crucial distinction the press is making.

When reporters start digging into the personal lives of candidates to analyze personal character, a good rule of thumb is to stick to the present and the relevant past. That means sticking to issues that call into question a candidate’s current character and abilities.

For instance, Gary Hart’s all-too-current indiscretions were fair game for a media look-see, particularly after he invited the press to scrutinize him. At the very least, the man had extremely poor judgment—a serious liability in a head of state.

And Joe Biden’s self-enhancement attempts called into question his entire campaign. No one could predict what fantasy he’d pass off as the truth next. In that shining ivory tower better known as the Oval Office, America needs an incumbent whose mind is firmly entrenched in reality.

If the press wanted to make an issue of the premature fatherhood of the two candidates, they should have taken a different angle. Both men married their pregnant lovers. Both men are still married to the same woman today. What was at best an awkward way to start out has resulted in successful, long-lasting marriages for both couples.

The national media would do well to learn to recognize the difference between bad character and human fallibility. The U.S. has enough tabloid papers already without “respectable” newspapers joining their ranks.