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.

It appears almost certain that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will win the April 19 New York Primary in her quest to secure the Democratic nomination for President, but Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has won a lot of hearts along the way.

Thursday’s Democratic debate in Brooklyn, New York, pitted Sanders and Clinton against each other. One thing is clear. Sanders might win the New York Primary by a hair. His support is swelling with momentum especially among younger voters aged 45 and under. His political rallies continue to draw large crowds in the tens of thousands. In the past few weeks, Sanders has won numerous primaries and caucuses, but he lags behind Clinton in delegate counts.

Voter turnout will again be the key to winning the New York Primary for Sanders or Clinton. Polls show Clinton ahead of Sanders by at least 10 points across the Empire State. A dose of voter apathy may set in among Clinton’s supporters that believe she will win the primary and the presidential nomination whether they vote or not, giving an edge to Sanders — whose supporters have been showing up to vote in large numbers.

During the CNN sponsored debate, the issue of gun control brought fiery words from both candidates. Clinton showed — if elected as President – that she would stop at nothing to drastically change gun laws in the United States of America far beyond the status quo, and Sanders agreed. Sanders said his record in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives showed he voted against allowing private ownership of military-style assault rifles since the mid-1980s and Clinton did not during her time as a U.S. Senator from New York.

Clinton said that gun violence claims, on average, 90 people every day across America — too many victims – men, women and children. The size of the gun problem itself is the gun problem in America.

The massacre of 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut, Dec. 14, 2012, was used by the CNN moderators as the catalyst to ask questions of the two candidates about gun control laws. An assault rifle was used by a deranged young man, whose mother bought him the gun he used to kill the children, all between 6 and 7 years old, as well as six teachers and staff members. This incident remains America’s deadliest mass school shooting to date.

On the same night in New York City, at a Republican fund-raising dinner, some 800 Republicans paid $1,000 each to hear from home boy New York billionaire Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Cruz, during the Feb. 20 South Carolina primary, made negative comments in reference to Trump, about “New York values” not being his values; this did not set well with New Yorkers. Apparently, South Carolina voters did not like Cruz’s comments either, because Cruz lost South Carolina, a Bible-belt state, to Trump by a substantial margin.

According to a NBC News report, Cruz was almost entirely ignored during his speech with attendees chattering at their dinner tables, standing and taking pictures on their camera phones of everything but Cruz. Several casually left the dinner altogether.

The standout was, of course, Trump who spoke to his people in New York.

In perhaps his finest moment during the campaign to date, Trump spoke with heart and compassion about the events of Sept. 11, 2001 – the downing of the World Trade Center’s Twin-Towers by Islamic terrorists — which changed America forever.

“New York values were for all to see in the aftermath of 9/11,” Trump told his engaged hometown crowd. “In our darkest moments as a city, we showed the world the very, very best in terms of bravery, heart and soul that we have in America.”

Trump showed a side of himself that voters will be hard to resist down the road. His supporters will respond and more will join if this new Trump keeps this up and stays out of the soap opera-style news.

For the upcoming April 19 New York Primary, Trump is polling at 53.4 percent to Kasich’s 21.7 percent and Cruz’s 17.6 percent. A more than 50-percent win by Trump would give him most of the New York Republican delegates propelling him further toward the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination.

A week later, five Republican and Democratic primaries will be held in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Polls show Trump is favored to win all five. Clinton leads Sanders in the two biggest states of Pennsylvania and Maryland with more than 50 percent to Sanders’ mid-30 percent.

If Thursday’s debate performance by Clinton and Sanders is any measure of prediction, Sanders has a chance — however slim — to win the New York primary sending Clinton into a tailspin.

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.