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.

Cheers could be heard loud and clear in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica, Tuesday night as the first votes were being counted in the USA’s New Hampshire presidential primary. Next comes the South Carolina primary, then Nevada.

At the end of the night, Republican candidate Donald J. Trump — the consummate political outsider –stood victorious over incumbent U.S. senators, seasoned state governors, retired medical surgeon Dr. Ben Carson and former Hulett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorino.

Trump captured 35 percent of the vote. A distant second was former Ohio republican Gov. John Kasich with 16 percent followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 12 percent.

Kasich was the breakout candidate coming from far behind in the polls to claim second place, while Rubio was the night’s biggest loser squandering his momentum coming out of the Iowa caucuses. Rubio stumbled badly during the last republican debate and apparently many voters switched to Kasich.

Meanwhile, Costa Rica’s expat community appears to be solidly behind Trump. Just as soon as the first round of voting tallies were announced from New Hampshire loud cheering and clapping drowned out classic rock & roll music in a crowded Beatle Bar Restaurant in Jaco. Both Clinton and Sanders were heavily booed.

On both sides of the isle, a political revolution appears to be in full swing and gaining steam with billionaire businessman Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, leading the charge.

Sanders trounced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by a whopping 22 points — 60 percent to 38 percent of the vote. Support from young voters and women voters under 65 surprisingly put Sanders way over the top.

According to the New York Times, Clinton scored only with women voters aged 65 and older. That figure speaks volumes about Clinton’s campaign.

Presidential campaigns will now begin to fall like a house of cards as support shifts from lessor candidates to those that inspire voters with new ideas and new concepts of leadership as new definitions of government emerge.

The ‘establishment’ candidates such as Kasich, Bush and Clinton are being challenged in ways they do not know how to respond to.

Republican candidates Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Fiorina, Carson and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul shared a combined total of 26 percent of the New Hampshire vote. They are facing the inevitable decision to drop out of the race and throw their support to one of the top four candidates – Trump, Kasich, Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who received 10 percent of the vote.

Before the next “first in the south” presidential primary in South Carolina on Feb. 20 for the republicans and Feb. 27 for the democrats, the lessor candidates with be forced out narrowing the field as their support will flow to the top four. After the South Carolina primary, depending on the results one, two or possibly three of these candidates — Kasich, Cruz and Bush — will fold. Bush may stay in the race until the Florida primary, but polls there show him far behind Trump and Rubio.

According to polls conducted by Real Clear Politics, Clinton appears to be way ahead of Sanders in South Carolina 62 percent to Sanders’ 32 percent.

Trump is at 36 percent with Cruz a distant second with 19 percent in South Carolina. But anything can happen in two weeks with the turbulent world of politics and public opinion as voters are serenaded by the candidates. Both parties will hold debates before the South Carolina primary.

The next republican debate is set for Saturday, Feb. 13 at 9 pm ET, in Greenville, South Carolina, sponsored by CBS News, one week prior to the republican primary Feb. 20.

Democrats Clinton and Sanders will square off Thursday, Feb. 11 at 9 pm ET in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sponsored by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

The winners of the New Hampshire primary clearly were Trump and Sanders. Both have captured the imaginations of voters young and old alike. They are sitting on a large parcel of political real estate. Their opponents have no clue how to deal with Trump or Sanders.

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

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.