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.

Against all odds, New York billionaire Donald Trump has done what most people said he could not do by being selected Thursday night as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. At the start of this year’s political season Trump faced 16 opponents, but one by one they all dropped out along the way.

“I am your voice and we will make America great again. Good Night. I love you,” Trump said as he concluded his 75-minute speech, after being introduced by his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump. “Our plan will be to put America first … The American people will come first … My message is that things have to change and they will change right now.”

In his comments, Trump vowed to protect, expand and enhance women’s rights and those of the gay community while making America safe from radical Islamic terrorist threats at home and overseas.

After Trump’s speech, the Republican National Convention wrapped up a four-day run in Cleveland. Threats of violence by anti-Trump forces did not materialize due to excellent security work by the Cleveland Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. This safety in Cleveland for convention attendees and protesters was not by accident.

One thing voters need to take a good look at is who is supporting Trump for president and who is not supporting the Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and vice versa.

Nobody needs to take a poll to figure out that all branches of America’s armed services overwhelmingly support Trump over Clinton. And that also goes for military veterans and federal law enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, the Secret Service and the U.S. Border Patrol. Also, first-responders of all types, including local and state police, firefighters and emergency medical paramedics support Trump.

“I am the law and order candidate,” Trump said during his acceptance speech.

Meanwhile, previously on Wednesday night, Trump allowed his former campaign opponent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to speak before the convention delegates even after reviewing Cruz’s speech and knowing Cruz was not going to endorse him.

Cruz came in a distant second in pledged delegate counts to Trump during the primary and caucus elections that ended in June.

“Vote your conscience. Vote for candidates up and down the ticket,” Cruz said at the end of his speech then the convention delegates loudly and soundly booed Cruz off the convention stage in what many political observers said amounted to political “suicide.”

Reaction to Cruz’s comments came fast from TV news political commentators and from Trump’s family.

“What Cruz delivered was the longest suicide note American in political history,” said Charles Krauthammer, a long-time political commentator on Fox News.

Former Arkansas governor, television talk-show host and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Cruz’s comments were out of line.

“In a strange way, Ted Cruz may have done a great deal to unite the Republican Party in his speech at the GOP convention Wednesday night,” Huckabee said during a TV interview Thursday morning. “By failing to endorse Donald Trump in a speech so shamefully inappropriate that he was booed off the stage, he showed even his supporters that they have dodged a bullet by not nominating him.”

Even Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., commented that Cruz inadvertently brought much needed unity to the Republicans.

“When people like to make the story and create the dialogue about disunity – the best unity I saw was everyone booing him off the stage,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “I think everyone in here has the sense to realize that the number one goal is to make sure we beat Hillary Clinton.”

Trump also commented about Cruz being booed. “I thought it was a beautiful thing,” he said.

The Democratic National Convention gets underway Monday in Philadelphia. Clinton is expected to announce her vice presidential running mate before the convention begins.

A week from now, the general election campaign will begin in earnest. Political sparks will fly, millions upon millions of dollars will be spent by the Republicans and Democrats to discredit both candidates with negative advertising, and revelations about each candidate will unfold as they attack each other’s credibility.

As with all elections, the endgame is for the best candidate that holds the best promise for the United States of America to emerge as voters nationwide decide who that will be on November 8.

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.