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

By Britt Nelson

As the dust settles from the first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton during Campaign 2016 it appears Trump won last night’s face off.

Four informal polls released Tuesday show Trump won the debate while one shows Clinton won.

A poll conducted by CBS News New York shows Trump’s debate performance was favored by 60 percent of their viewers compared to 40 percent for Clinton.

A CNN poll shows, however, that Clinton’s debate performance won 62 percent to Trump’s 27 percent.

Another informal poll conducted by Fortune Magazine featuring the responses of more than 576,000 debate viewers had Trump winning with 52 percent. In that same poll, Trump received the highest marks for his stance on handling the economy and national security 56 percent to Clinton’s 44 percent.

On who has the clearest vision for America, Trump again came out on top in Fortune Magazine’s poll with 53 percent to Clinton’s 47 percent. Of all the responses in this poll, 80 percent said the debate did not change their mind while 13 percent said the debate did change their mind, and 7 percent were still undecided.

Monday night’s debate may have set a record with viewership ratings but that will not be known until late Tuesday, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But it’s a sure bet this debate will be debated by political commentators non-stop until the next presidential debate set for Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis.

This debate will feature a town hall-type format with questions coming from the audience as well as the debate moderators Martha Raddatz of ABC News, and Anderson Cooper with CNN.

The final debate will be Oct. 19 in Las Vegas. Vice presidential candidates Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Democrat Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will debate Oct. 4 in Virginia.

While both Clinton, a career politician, and Trump, a political novice, are claiming victory in last night’s debate, national polls show they remain neck-and-neck.

Clinton’s experience in public life is well known but here are the highlights: First Lady as wife of former President Bill Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, a former presidential candidate, and a former secretary of state during President Obama’s first term.

Trump, meanwhile, has never held any elected office and is challenging the establishment system like it has never been challenged before. Establishment Republicans and Democrats fear a Trump presidency and they are doing everything they can to stop Trump, but he is the people’s choice for voters angry at the continuing gridlock in Washington, DC with a do-nothing U.S. Congress and runaway spending.

One thing many people fail to realize is that American business is not a Democracy and it has never been run that way. American business is more a dictatorship with certified executive officers at the top of pyramid-type organizational structures with high-level, mid-level and low-level management. But everyone from the bottom up is taking orders from the boss upstairs, who in this case is Trump with billions in real estate investments and a myriad of more than 500 businesses in construction, hotels, entertainment and publishing worldwide. Trump took control of the family business in 1971 and the Trump Organization now employs more than 22,000 people around the globe, according to www.trump.com and Wikipedia.

The Trump phenomenon is unprecedented in American politics. The voters and establishment politicians have not experienced such a powerful personality seeking the presidency, and so far succeeding, which is quick frankly scaring the hell out of Democrats and many Republicans, too.

Trump’s vice-presidential running mate Gov. Pence, interviewed on national TV news shows Tuesday morning, praised Trump for being himself on the debate stage and holding his own against veteran debater Clinton.

“He spoke to the American people in his own unique way,” Pence said. “I think he had a great night.”

There is no doubt that Trump has the establishment on the run. The Independent voter, according to recent polls, favors Trump over Clinton. Independents are the largest of the voting blocs, with more registered voters than registered Democrats or registered Republicans. As a group, the Independents, who for the most part do not vote in primary elections, will speak for the first time with their vote on Nov. 8, and it is they who will decide the next president of the United States.

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.