With the frequent gesticulations of Donald Trump, the seemingly constant laughter from Hillary Clinton, and of course the constant digs between each nominee, the theatrics of last night’s presidential debate overshadowed the important policies of the candidates.

In case you missed the brief mentions of policies, here are the candidates’ stances on some important issues.

Hilary Clinton

Let’s begin with Clinton. Clinton, the Democratic nominee, is “pro-choice,” or a supporter of women having the choice whether to abort a pregnancy or not. She said, “politicians have no business interfering with women’s personal health decisions.”

In addition to that, she supports the DREAM act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), and in January of 2016, said “We need comprehensive immigration reform with a path to full and equal citizenship.”

With regards to healthcare, she intends to extend Obamacare as well as continue to fund Medicaid. She proposes an increase on the taxes of high-income wage earners, and a decrease of the tax burden on the middle class.

Her plans regarding the protection of the environment include reducing carbon emissions, investing in clean energy, and keeping a closer watch on environmental affairs overall.

With respect to increasing amounts of gun violence, she urges for tighter gun control produced by more legislation on gun safety.

Finally, if elected, Clinton intends to combat ISIS with authority, but she does not intend to have American soldiers actually engage in conflict with ISIS in ISIS-controlled territories.

Donald Trump:

Trump, on the other hand, has many different opinions in terms of these issues. In order to control illegal immigration from Mexico, Trump seeks to build a wall on the Mexican border, and he intends to have Mexico pay for the wall. He does, however, support legal immigration, saying that America should “Welcome those who embrace our way of life, but keep out immigrants and refugees who don’t go through rigorous vetting.”

In contrast to Clinton, Trump wants to get rid of Obamacare and does not support abortion except for instances of rape, incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger. In other words, he is “pro-life.”

He wants to lower corporate tax rates to 15%, and wants states to set their own minimum wages. Clinton does not approve of this plan, describing it in the debate as “Trumped-up trickle-down.”  

As for the environment, Trump does not accept the validity of global warming. He has said that “Global warming is an expensive hoax!”

In order to combat gun violence, Trump proposes that we “expand mental health programs [to] keep the violent mentally ill off of our streets.” However, he also advocates for protecting the rights of gun-owning citizens. In the debate, Trump stated, “We have to look very strongly at no-fly lists and watch lists,” which Clinton agrees with.

Lastly, he intends to combat ISIS by cutting of their money supply from products such as oil, and agrees with Clinton regarding the desire to not have American boots in ISIS-controlled territories.
Several of these policies were brought up in the debate last night, and many of them will be brought up in subsequent debates. These policies should be carefully examined, seeing as these policies foreshadow what the candidates plan to do if elected.