Until this week, Corey Lewandowski was known only to political junkies in the deepest throes of addiction. But suddenly Donald Trump's campaign manager is dominating cable news, especially CNN, which hasn't latched onto a story with such ferocity since the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

At least that missing plane, and the fate of 239 human beings, was a genuine and newsworthy mystery. Right now we are devoting wall-to-wall coverage to scrutinizing, frame-by-frame, whether Lewandowski grabbed reporter Michelle Fields by the arm, with what amount of force, and the contradictory stories told after the fact. It's true that Trump's reaction says something about the candidate, but not much we didn't already know.

So, as a public service, we now remind you the voters what is actually at stake in the upcoming election. The next president, whether his or her name is Clinton, Cruz, Kasich, Sanders, or Trump, will face some staggering problems.

One of them is income inequality. The wages of working Americans have stagnated for decades, while highly-educated people have prospered. Republicans will tell you that the flood of unskilled immigrants is pushing wages down, and there is evidence to support that. Democrats, especially those on the far left, believe the problem can be solved through government handouts and a much higher minimum wage.

The cold truth is that unskilled workers have to make themselves less unskilled. Learn a trade, develop your natural abilities, understand how to act in the workplace. The next president should level with the less-educated: Take responsibility for your own lives because no government handout can ever be as valuable as self-reliance.

Then there is the jihad, which is on the march around the globe. President Obama has tried to wish the problem away, but ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups, far from being 'contained,' have only gotten stronger. According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, 30,000 people are being slaughtered by terrorists each year, nearly a tenfold increase from when President Obama took office. In far too many nations, the mere act of wearing a cross or carrying a Bible can cost you your life. That is inhumane, subhuman, and must be stopped.

It's true that attacks on U.S. soil are relatively rare, for which the Obama administration deserves credit. But it's also indisputable that the world is a far more dangerous place than it was eight years ago. The incoming president will have to reverse that trend. We have said repeatedly that the White House should mobilize NATO, the world's most potent military alliance, to combat the jihad with relentless might and force.

A third issue facing the next president is immigration and border security, and we can thank Donald Trump for bringing this to the forefront. In truth, only a wall can halt the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants across our very porous southern border. Democrats laugh out loud at the mere mention of a wall, but they might want to ask Israel whether a physical barrier can be effective.

Once the border is secure, which should not take long, Congress and the next administration can create some fair way to deal with illegal immigrants who have built lives here in the USA. They are not entitled to citizenship, but there is some humane way to allow them legal residence.

Those are just three issues among many. We have not even mentioned the $20-trillion debt, racial tension that only worsened under President Obama, a chaotic health care law, Iran's nuclear ambitions, Putin's belligerence, and a few thousand other life-and-death issues. Whoever emerges from the Final Five must deal with these from the jump.

So here's a novel idea. How about if we focus just a little more on some of the issues delineated above, a little less on who grabbed whose arm? Americans may find it slightly less entertaining, but it will be far more enlightening. The choice we collectively make in November will affect each and every one of us - our health, our economic security, our education, our overall well-being.

The candidates, we in the media, and Americans in general are too often treating this election as some combination of a horse race and a reality show. In fact, it is an election about the future of America itself. We need to realize that. And soon.