5 Topics Presidential Candidates Have Yet To Dive Into

The third and last presidential debate takes place Wednesday evening and, if previous matchups serve as a reference, neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump will hold back any punches. In such a scenario, the moderator will acquire a central role in assuaging the situation.

In fact, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News has already started playing a big part in the debate, as he was the one in charge of selecting the topics that would be discussed. Wallace chose six topics:

• The national debt
• Immigration
• Candidates’ fitness to be President
• The economy
• The Supreme Court
• Foreign policy

While the candidates have spent time discussing their opponent’, the economy and foreign policy, they haven’t dedicated much time to immigration, the Supreme Court, and entitlements and debt.

The table below shows how many minutes each candidate spent talking about the subjects picked for the first debate.

Source: CNBC

So, here are the five topics Benzinga believes presidential candidates are yet to dive into:

1. Immigration

While Trump has made of immigration one of the central points of his campaign, and many people seem to agree on the importance of the issue, the topic was barely discussed in the first debate, and scarcely treated in the second one. We know what to expect from Trump in the arena, though, as he has made it very clear he intends to build a wall between the US and Mexico, and that he will defend the forced deportation of a few million undocumented immigrants.

Earlier this year, Clinton said, “We need comprehensive immigration reform with a path to full and equal citizenship. If Congress won't act, I'll defend President Obama’s executive actions—and I'll go even further to keep families together. I'll end family detention, close private immigrant detention centers, and help more eligible people become naturalized.”

2. The Supreme Court

Since Justice Antonin Scalia's death, there’s been a free seat at the Supreme Court, as Republicans have made a mission out of blocking any potential replacement President Barack Obama could propose. While some believe this would end with the election of a new president, others think the deadlock situation will continue, especially taking into account John McCain’s words: "I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up."

3. The National Debt

With a federal debt that accounts for about 75 of the US gross domestic product, this is certainly an issue to discuss. As with many other subjects, Trump’s position has been erratic and unclear, having promised to pay down debt and to re-negotiate.

Clinton hasn't proposed any particular measures to scale down debt, but her policies will likely not be conservative from a budgetary standpoint. However, as The Wall Street Journal explained, “The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an organization that advocates for debt reduction, estimates that Mrs. Clinton’s spending and tax policies would essentially hold the national debt on the trajectory it faces under current law.”

4. Gun Violence

While the candidates haven’t talked much about gun violence, Trump has made it clear he supports gun ownership, arguing that guns could prevent innocent civilians from getting killed or injured by terrorists.

“Hillary wants to disarm vulnerable Americans in high-crime neighborhoods... I am going to put criminals behind bars and guarantee that law-abiding Americans have the right to self-defense,” he said.

On the other hand, Clinton assured she would “not pander to the gun lobby, and… will not be silenced and… will not be intimidated.”

“More than 33,000 Americans are killed by guns each year. It’s time to act. As President, I'll take on the gun lobby and fight for commonsense reforms to keep guns away from terrorists, domestic abusers, and other violent criminals—including comprehensive background checks and closing loopholes that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands,” Clinton said earlier this year.

5. Prescription Drugs Pricing

As Citron's controversial executive editor Andrew Left said last month, “Regulating the price of pharmaceuticals and eliminating price gouging might be the only issue that Trump and Hillary both agree on.”