By Britt Nelson

 

The Republican and Democratic presidential debates appear to be over and the primaries are gaining steam. Voters from both parties head to voting booths on March 15 in winner-take-all primaries in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Missouri.

 

Thursday night’s Republican debate in Miami, Florida, sponsored by CNN, took viewers by surprise as the candidates – New York billionaire Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich – were on their best behavior in contrast to last week’s raucous Republican debate in Detroit, Michigan, in which Rubio stepped out of bounds in his criticism of Trump’s “small hands.”

 

After the Miami Republican debate, Trump came across as the most presidential over Cruz, Rubio and Kasich. This time around they were all cool as a cucumber. Noticeably absent from the debate was the previous name calling, personal attacks, the endless interruptions of one candidate by another and constant disrespect for each other.

 

If recent polling is correct, after the March 15 primaries Rubio and Kasich will face a decision to withdraw from the presidential race due to low delegate counts and may be forced to throw their support behind Trump or Cruz.

 

Trump leads in the delegate count, followed by Cruz, Rubio and Kasich.

 

No further Democratic debates are scheduled, while Republicans have a tentative debate set for March 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, no specific location has been named and no sponsors are listed.

 

Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, also in Miami, had candidates – Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – sparring over national issues such as illegal immigration, gun control, drug abuse, health care, free college tuition and Social Security.

 

News agencies and political commentators almost unanimously gave Sanders the debate win, following Sanders’ surprise victory over Clinton in Michigan’s primary last week.

 

Clinton, however, holds a commanding lead in the Democratic delegate count over Sanders, but that could change if Sanders pulls additional upset victories over Clinton on March 15.

 

Sanders and the moderators of the Miami debate, sponsored by the Washington Post and Univision, had Clinton up against the ropes and she appeared nervous when questions arose over her possible indictment involving an FBI investigation into her handling of sensitive national security secrets while she was the U.S. Secretary of State during President Obama’s first term.

 

During the debate, Clinton refused to answer any questions involving her private email and the FBI probe.

 

Meanwhile, Trump appears headed toward at least four primary wins in Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina, according to polls conducted by Real Clear Politics.

 

In Florida, Trump maintains a strong lead over rival Rubio, 40 percent to 25 percent, followed by Cruz and Kasich. However, other polls show a tightening race with Rubio only 8 points behind Trump.

 

In North Carolina, Trump leads with 32 percent over Cruz’s 22 percent followed by Rubio and Kasich.

 

In Illinois, Trump leads with 33 percent, while Cruz and Rubio are virtually tied with 19 percent and 18 percent followed by Kasich.

 

In Missouri, recent polls were unavailable but newspaper reports say Trump leads in Missouri.

 

In Kasich’s home state of Ohio, Trump and Kasich are neck and neck. Some polls show Trump in the lead 36 percent to 34 percent while other polls show Kasich in a similar lead, followed by Cruz and Rubio.

 

At this point in the political process — to elect a new president of the United States — election polls will vary on a daily basis. Democrat and Republican voters are making up their minds and as they do the candidates will dwindle down to the final one on each side that holds the most promise for the good of 330 million people living in the United States of America.

 

Much is at stake this year such as the nation’s identity. President Obama’s policy of open borders continues to allow the flow of millions of illegal immigrants into the USA creating havoc for law enforcement and communities attempting to provide services to them.

 

Trump and Cruz say they both support mass deportations of illegal immigrants. During the Miami debate, both Clinton and Sanders declared they would not pursue mass deportations.

 

As America selects its next leader — these are trying times around the world with Mid-East unrest at an all-time high, warfare continuing in Syria and Iraq, North Korea claiming to have a hydrogen bomb as they shoot off long-range missiles and Iran is threating Israel at every turn.

 

Hopefully, the voting public will decide who will take the oath of office for president — at the United States Capitol in Washington on Jan 20, 2017 — and who will not.

 

Establishment Republicans repeatedly say that Trump, no matter what his delegate count is, will not be their nominee at the Republican National Convention in July. That’s pretty strong stuff.

 

If Republican voters are denied the candidate with the most delegates, which is looking like Trump, due to back room negotiations resulting in a brokered convention with another candidate given the nomination — there will be hell to pay.

 

About the author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for thePalatka 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.