By Britt Nelson

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

Just the other day a thrill-seeking sky diver jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 25,000 feet without a parachute and survived. Donald Trump just did the same thing; but, will he survive a 15-point free fall in national election polls?

Republican presidential candidate Trump has put his foot in his mouth a lot lately and he also shot himself in both feet. For Trump supporters this has been a week to forget, but who could? The Khans and their Muslim-soldier-son killed in Iraq and Trump’s comments, that Purple Heart from a veteran and Trump’s comments, the questionable Iran “ransom” money for hostages and Trump’s comments and on and on.

This week President Obama has taken considerable time during numerous press conferences to discount Trump’s comments on just about everything, claiming the Republican candidate is unfit to serve as President. So has Democratic challenger and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and so have numerous establishment Republicans. Some of Trump’s former supporters are beginning to back away, but is it over for Trump? Will he recover in the polls and in the minds and hearts of voters?

President Obama, Clinton and all the others are hoping the Trump Train has derailed once and for all, leaving the Republican National Committee wondering what to do next and Democrats dancing in the streets.

Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has been in an endorsement feud with Trump. Ryan, earlier, endorsed Trump against the wishes of many other establishment Republicans, but Trump has yet to endorse Ryan in his re-election campaign in Wisconsin. Trump is having the same problem with Arizona Sen. John McCain, but McCain never did throw in with the billionaire candidate due to comments made last year about McCain not being an American hero because he was captured and held as a prisoner of war for years during the Vietnam War.

“He’s had a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think we ought to be focusing on Hillary Clinton, all of her deficiencies,” Ryan said in a recent radio interview in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and reported by Real Clear politics. “She is such a weak candidate that one would think we’d be on offense against Hillary Clinton, and it is distressing that that’s not what we’re talking about these days.”

In four national general election polls released Thursday, Trump is behind Clinton by up to 15 percentage points in three and he’s tied with Clinton in another. Using Real Clear Politics polling average Clinton is only 6.7 points ahead of Trump. With more than three months until the Nov. 8 general election, anything can and will happen.

If Trump can return to the issues he has promoted from day one, he still could pull off a once unthinkable victory over Clinton by harnessing the angry voters across the United States of America, who are really pissed off at all of Washington and the U.S. Congress for doing very little over the years except to whittle away at the American Dream.

Instead of saying dumb things that give the biased media and the Democrats fuel for criticism, Trump needs to bring to the forefront again his support of law enforcement, national security, freeing society of radical Islamic terrorism, military veteran’s issues, seniors and Social Security, better healthcare for all, protection of gays, legal immigration only, free expression of religious beliefs, the 2nd Amendment and guns, future U.S. Supreme Court appointments, and securing better international trade deals that bring back jobs and strengthen the economy.

But Trump is right about this recent controversy that — due to politics — has come to light. It’s hard to believe that anyone with a lick of common sense believes what President Obama and Clinton are saying about the $400 million in cold, hard cash, which was mysteriously paid to Iran after a 37-year-long dispute, just at the same time four hostages were released from Iran last January. This money was “ransom” money paid to secure the release of those hostages, pure and simple, to think otherwise is stupid.

Polls will go up and polls will go down. But the upcoming debates between Clinton and Trump starting September 26 will be ‘make or break’ for both candidates.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.