8 important topics Obama, Romney won’t discuss

The economy is blotting out the sun issue-wise in the 2012 campaign. Here are eight important issues left in the shadows. They’re adapted from a new book by The Post’s Chris Cillizza, “The Gospel According to The Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less Than Holy World of Politics.” (Broadway Books)

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1. Education: One Topic Left Behind

Talking about education in politics traditionally has been a smart move. No matter what a voter’s political affiliation, he or she generally will support more spending on educating our kids. But in 2012’s economic climate, spending any more federal money on education is a nonstarter for both sides. (Pictured here: McKinley Lyons and Javonta Johnson, from left, at Normal Park summer school program on June 26, 2012, in Chattanooga, Tenn.)

Dan Henry / AP

2. Debt reduction: Does anybody have a can I can kick?

Sure, there will be talk about the $15 trillion elephant in the room. But expect few specifics on how to put it on a diet. Elections are about telling people what they want to hear (“No new taxes”), not speaking hard truths about a perilous economic position. Can a candidate not on an Aaron Sorkin series win by saying we must raise taxes AND cut services? Can he win a game of one-on-one with Lebron James?

Lee Jae-won / Reuters

3. Energy (beyond Solyndra)

Are gas prices high? No? Then we don’t care. Even with good news -- higher domestic oil output, a gush of U.S. natural gas -- the American public hasn’t linked energy and the economy. That means the issue is on the (forgive us) back burner. (Pictured here: A gas station attendant pumps gas in Portland, Ore.)

Rick Bowmer / AP

4. Afghanistan -- You would think...

It’s our longest war already. And deeply unpopular. Even if President Obama can get troops out by year’s end, he’s pushing significant aid for Afghanistan’s government through 2017. Mitt Romney says Obama is rushing the pullout. For all that, the issue hasn’t shown up among leading voter concerns. Romney is loath to remind voters who ordered the successful raid that killed Osama bin Laden. (Note: Obama didn’t get a lasting popularity bump from that, either.) (Pictured here: American soldiers prepare to patrol near a fortified position in a mountain at Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in 2006)

Rodrigo Abd / AP

5. Everything else in the world

When Chris Cillizza gave a few speeches in Europe after the 2008 election, the first question was what the average American voter thought of Europe. He replied: “The average American doesn’t think of Europe. At all.” With people worried about making mortgage payments and affording their kids’ education, the problems of Syria, Libya, even Greece aren’t on the radar. Despite neglect on the hustings, these issues could well be in the fore for November’s winner. (Pictured here: Libyans celebrate on the streets after casting their vote during the National Assembly election in Benghazi on July 7, 2012.)

Esam Omran al-Fetori / Reuters

6. Campaign finance -- it’s a disgrace, but ...

... for all the foul-crying regarding the amount of cashola sloshing around the political system, the average person simply doesn’t cast his or her vote on the issue. People say they care about campaign reform, but that’s it. So candidates, from Obama flogging tacky campaign souvenirs online or Romney accepting beaucoup bucks from a casino operator dependent on China for most of his profits, tend not to talk about it unless prompted. (Here: Supporters at a Romney campaign rally in 2012.)

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

7. Gun control -- locked, unloaded

Despite the outcry over the attempted assassination of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (pictured here) in January 2011 by a deranged gunman, no major changes in gun control laws were made. Over the past decade, Democrats have walked back most of their gun control rhetoric as part of efforts to win rural voters in swing states. Moving on gun control between now and November would amount to a kamikaze mission.

Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images

8. Terrorism

Nearly 11 years from Sept. 11, 2001, the political potency of the issue seems to have faded. Yet terrorism remains like a dark cloud, far on the horizon, farther now that bin Laden is dead. Both candidates will mention the need to protect Americans from terror, but this doesn’t appear so far to be a central issue. (Pictured here: A newspaper and flag was mounted on the fence that surrounds the field where Flight 93 crashed on 9/11.)

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Let us know whether you think one of these issues will be at the forefront. Or whether issues such as immigration and health will also be muted on the campaign following the initial flurry of reaction to Supreme Court decisions.

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