As we head toward the presidential election finish line in November, the issue of how the news media report on campaign issues continues to mystify voters.

Critics say the media are obsessed with fringe issues, which, in some cases, result in the destruction of candidates for high public office.

They point to Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, and Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan. Franken, a former stand-up comedian who was on an upward trajectory in the Democratic Party, resigned in 2018 after seven women accused him of inappropriate touching or forced kissing. Conyers, the longest-serving member of Congress, retired in 2016 because of sexual harassment allegations.

When it comes to these allegations, especially among presidential candidates, some wonder what does this have to do with running the country? The question has much to do with the way the media report these missteps. The role of journalism and journalists has gone through many twists and turns when it comes to reporting presidential politics.

Periodically, this band of imperfect human beings is called upon to cover what is affectionately known as the greatest show on earth - the presidential campaign.

The presidential candidates are mere mortals, too, who in some instances have skeletons jangling in their closets. To be successful, these candidates must morph into near superhumans and combine seemingly contradictory qualities - worldliness and an America-first predisposition, toughness and charity, skepticism but not cynicism, humanity and self-confidence, enthusiasm and restraint.

Their success in achieving these diametrically opposed objectives are mirrored and chronicled incessantly, so it is easy to praise or blame us in the media for their success or failure.

The road to the White House is lined with potholes, some much deeper than others. Do our political servants today have more scandals than their predecessors, or is it that today’s media are more probing?

Both major candidates this year have had to fend off accusations from women who claim that they sexually harassed them, an issue that many believe speaks to a candidate’s character.

President Donald Trump has been accused by 16 women of sexual wrongdoing, all allegations he has vehemently denied. As if to put an exclamation point on these accusations, along came the now infamous audio of the Access Hollywood tape where Trump said his fame allowed him to grab women in their private parts. This blockbuster disclosure about a month before the 2016 election was predicted to spell disaster for his presidential run.

So much for the so-called pundits. Trump beat Hillary Clinton.

Last year, a group of women came forward and accused Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden of being too touchy-feely, to the point of making them uncomfortable. One of them has now gone further, accusing Biden of sticking his hand up her dress and sexually assaulting her. “It never happened. Period,” Biden said.

It’s interesting how complex these types of allegations are. For one thing, the public seems to be selective on whom they will forgive and those they will not.

Why did a sex scandal do in Gary Hart in 1988, yet Bill Clinton was able to dodge the tawdry affair with Monica Lewinsky and come out of an impeachment but no conviction with his career - if not his reputation - pretty much intact?

Why did the news media look the other way at the dalliances of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt? These were widely known but not reported in the press. Perhaps the public’s appetite for scandal is more voracious because of the rise in social-media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and reality TV.

Most press historians say the Chappaquiddick affair, which implicated the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, changed the ground rules of press coverage for all time.

After a party of drinking and merriment in 1969, Mary Jo Kopechne, one of the senator’s aides whose parents once lived in the Poconos, drowned as the result of a car accident in which Kennedy was the driver. His failure to report the incident, leaving her to die and resurfacing a day later brought Kennedy’s moral integrity and judgment into question and dashed his presidential aspirations for all time. Despite this, the voters of Massachusetts re-elected him to the U.S. Senate seven more times before his death in 2009.

Since Chappaquiddick, it’s been open season on politicians and their indiscretions - sexual or otherwise.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com