Given that we are still a couple of months away from the first votes being cast in the Republican presidential primary, many of you probably couldn't care less about the candidates because you aren't voting or aren't voting for Republicans.
For those of you who do care (and this should include everyone, considering that one of these candidates could be your next president), you might have heard something while watching the South Carolina/Florida game that there was a debate on Saturday night.
That's right, Saturday at 8 p.m. on CBS - the exact same time as the big Oregon/Stanford game - the GOP contenders faced off on what are arguably the most important issues of this campaign.
While most people care more about the economy than foreign affairs, one of the president's main functions is being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In recent years, almost all foreign-policy decisions have come from the White House or other parts of the executive branch - especially wars.
But apparently, CBS doesn't think it's important for you to know or care what these candidates think about our foreign policy. If you weren't watching football, you were probably out doing something else with your life on Saturday night.
To be honest, no members of the Alligator editorial board watched the debate, but there were some important topics discussed of which many Americans should be aware.
For instance, both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich told the audience in Spartanburg, S.C., that if sanctions and other strategies failed, the U.S. would have no other choice but to engage in military action with Iran. That is pretty important for the American people to know about a candidate, don't you think?
Ron Paul and Herman Cain resisted this argument in favor of other strategies.
On the issue of torture, Cain and Michele Bachmann agreed that waterboarding does not constitute torture, while Paul and Jon Huntsman argued that it does and is immoral.
These are some pretty important distinctions that all voters - Republican, Democrat and otherwise - should know for next year's elections.
CBS not only messed up the timing of the debate, but it also did a horrible job at keeping the debate fair.
Both Bachmann and Paul have claimed that CBS pretty much ignored them during the debate.
While not the sexiest of topics for debate, foreign policy is one of the key components of the president's constitutional obligations. The media should take this issue seriously and make sure that a debate on this topic occurs when more people will be able and willing to watch it.
Also, if these news outlets are going to invite everyone to a debate, they should do a better job of awarding equal time to each candidate to respond to questions.
