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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.

Trump, Clinton and Sanders – what a nice ménage à trois.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders refuses to quit the Democratic presidential race, causing much frustration within the campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who wants to unify the Democratic Party and lock up her quest for the party’s nomination for president. Clinton remains far ahead in the necessary delegate count needed to win.

Sanders is facing a likely win over Clinton on Tuesday in the West Virginia Republican and Democratic Primary, where a controversy has erupted over comments she made recently concerning the loss of coal mining jobs and closing coal mines forever. Her words went over like a lead balloon in this coal mining state.

According to polling information from Real Clear Politics, Sanders leads Clinton 46 percent to 40 percent in West Virginia, while New York billionaire Donald Trump will win hands down because he faces no opposition. Both Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out of the race this week. Also, on Tuesday, is the Nebraska Republican Primary, but there again, Trump faces no opposition.

In an interesting exchange of ideas on Facebook — between Pennsylvania Democrat Deborah Jewell Powell and Tim Callahan, a resident of Jaco Beach, Costa Rica — they offer different viewpoints about whether or not Sanders should drop out.

“This may be unpopular, but I think it is time for Bernie to put the country ahead of his ambition and suspend his campaign,” Powell stated on May 5. “We can’t let Donald Trump have an extra month to pound on Hillary while she still has to mount the campaign against Bernie. Her numbers say she will win the nomination — it’s time to face the facts. The GOP is falling in line to defeat the Democrats…we can’t wait another day.”

Callahan responded saying Clinton has too much baggage and will be dragged down by her past.

“Not so, Deborah Jewell Powell, all’s fair. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has done very well even with the media and DNC (Democratic National Committee) trying to undermine his every move. Four more years of gridlock and endless investigations, that will be the legacy of Hillary Clinton.”

With regard to Sanders, Callahan continued:

“Four years of purposeful work being done in congress, no ongoing endless investigations, no more Wall Street control of our savings and retirement funds, universal education and health care for all. Why on Earth would any sane person think that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is a spoiler? He is exactly what is needed now to defeat Trump. Time to face the facts??? Fact is that Hillary Clinton is not a moderate. She is part of an oligarchy that is owned and directed by the very wealthy! Go, Bernie, Go!!!”

Meanwhile, in his efforts of unify the Republican Party, Trump is being both accepted and rejected by establishment Republicans.

The most noteworthy is Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who issued a statement saying he was “not ready” to endorse Trump at this time and more work is needed to be done for him to accept Trump as the Republican Party’s nominee. Ryan and Trump are to meet next week in Washington, DC, in hopes of ironing out their differences.

Also, former presidents George H.W. Bush and son George W. Bush along with the former governor of Florida Jeb Bush have issued statements not supporting Trump and they would not be attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

In contrast, this week former Vice President Dick Cheney under President George W. Bush and former U.S. Kansas Sen. Bob Dole also a former presidential candidate, have endorsed Trump.

Coming up on May 17 is the Kentucky Democratic Primary, another big coal mining state, and the Oregon Republican and Democratic primaries. Sanders may win both Kentucky and the Oregon primaries causing more headaches for Clinton, according to polls.

Sanders is correct in his refusal to give up because at this point in time the Democratic Party is clearly split with many hard-core Democrats supporting Sanders and only Sanders. On June 7 is the huge California Democratic and Republican Primary. Polls show Clinton ahead of Sanders 51 to 41 percent, but anything can happen. Sanders stole the show in the recent Indiana Primary and the same thing could happen in California.

During the Nevada primaries, various Latino voters spoke about their support of Sanders by saying: “I’m voting for El Viejito.” This endearing endorsement of Sanders, which can be translated to “the nice old man,” is certainly powerful. This is what every Latin America male aspires to be called once he reaches a certain age; El Viejito means that you are an elder who is liked, appreciated, respected, trusted, and admired. It means that people are willing to take your lead and work with you.

This past week showed large numbers of Hispanics, waving Mexican flags and flags from other Spanish-speaking counties, protesting against Clinton while she was holding a rally at East Los Angeles College in California. Many of their signs read, ‘Clinton Crime Family,’ and ‘Hillary for Prison 2016,’ and ‘VIVA BERNIE.’

Minorities – a large part of Clinton’s base — are turning against her and supporting Sanders. What’s going on here?

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.