After all the mudslinging and active campaigning from both Democratic and Republican sides, it’s time for college students to look towards the future. Who will you vote for in the coming Nov. 6 elections?

The Mirror hosted Monday’s viewing of the third and last presidential debate and the editorial board was pleased to see students show up. In addition to those in the BCC, we know that many students chose to stay in their own dorms and apartments to watch President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney spar over foreign (and domestic?) policies.

We only have a certain amount of space for our editorial, so if we start an argument about “his horse is bigger than the other guy’s,” the opinions section would only consist of the editorial board’s opinion. To avoid that from happening, we decided to dedicate this space to what both candidates failed to mention in their debates.

We followed social media very closely over the past few weeks (winnowing through many angry and incomprehensible tweets) and here’s what we thought Twitter users had problems with (aside from tangents about how the foreign policies inexplicably pivoted to domestic policies):

Absence of climate change discussion. Both runners listed climate change as an issue they wish to solve, but The Mirror was hard-pressed to find a mention or two.

Exclusion of Latin America and Europe in foreign policy. There was no talk of the drug war going on in Mexico (47,000 victims since President Felipe Calderon had launched his anti-cartel campaign in 2006, according to The Associated Press), the trade policies and relationships with countries like Cuba and Venezuela.

Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Always an interesting topic. The candidates discussed Israel, but never branched into this integral relationship that was heatedly debated in the previous presidential election.

LGBTQ rights. Happy LGBTQ month? It doesn’t matter if you support these rights or not. What matters is the candidates failed to lay out their plans on how they will work on this hot issue. We did notice President Obama quip that Romney had “social policies from the “1950s” with Romney staying silent on the subject.

So although you might think you learned where each candidate truly stands from the three debates, be aware that there are many things each one would rather not talk about. Research every topic, realize that not everything is discussed in these debates, and then decide who will earn your vote.

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