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

Say goodbye to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WIS) who announced last Wednesday that he would not seek reelection after 20-years of service including three years as Mr. Speaker.

Ryan, 48, has represented Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District since 1999. In his announcement he cited that his three children are teenagers and if he ran for another term they would be adults and would have only known their father as a “weekend dad.” He seemed sincere and explained that his own father died when he as 15 and he was serious about spending more time with family, but that’s what politicians always say on their way out the door.

In January, Ryan will retire at the end of his 10th elected two-year term. After that it’s a good bet Ryan will run for president of the United States in 2020 – perhaps challenging President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination — or run in 2024 when he’d be only 55 years old. Ryan was on the 2012 Republican vice presidential ticket with Mitt Romney, who lost to President Obama. So Ryan seeking the presidency in the future is almost a given.

In his last election, Ryan won with 65-percent of the vote. Before being Speaker, Ryan served as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. It would be hard to find a more qualified presidential candidate than Ryan.

After Ryan whose the next speaker of the House? That’s all depends on what happens during November’s mid-term elections.

Liberal Democrats see Ryan’s departure as another incumbent seeing some sort of ‘handwriting on the wall’ that Democrats will win back the U.S. House in a coming ‘Blue Wave’ tsunami to stop President Trump’s America First agenda. If the Democrats win back the House, then the next Speaker could well be former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) if not then Republican Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) could be the next Speaker.

Scalise, 52, has been in office since 2008 and before that he was in the Louisiana State House for 12 years. In June 2017 he was critically shot in the pelvis during a domestic terror attack at a congressional baseball practice session. The shooter was shot dead by U.S. Capitol Police. For weeks he remained in critical condition in an intensive care unit having numerous surgeries, but slowly recovered. President Trump visited him in the ICU. Using a walker he returned on Sept. 28 to the House and gave an emotional account of his experiences to standing ovations, cheers and applause. That was some speech he gave that day. He will be long remembered for his determination to recover and his recognizing the two Capitol Police officers that took out the shooter saving many lives.

Of course the Democrats are going to go on and on about their so-called ‘Blue Wave’ that will hit on Nov. 6. Yes, there have been many incumbent legislators – Republicans and Democrats — announcing their retirements for a variety of reasons. It’s good for Democracy across America to have a shakeup in Washington like never before seen. Voter imposed term limits is what November will be all about.

There are more women – conservative and liberal – running for local, state and federal elected offices than ever before and this is good for Democracy across America, too.

For leadership Senate Democrats have good old Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) and his House sidekick Minority Whip Pelosi – both fossils of a bygone era. Not much has changed with the Democrats. They have no message other than to fight President Trump. There are no rising Democratic political stars on the horizon that could hold a candle to Ryan or Scalise. Ryan says he will spend the rest of his time in office campaigning for fellow Republicans to retain control of the U.S. House.

With no visionary message the Democrats are dreamers to think their candidates will in big in November in the face of a strengthening economy and record low unemployment — especially in minority communities — that President Trump gets the credit for. Their hatred of President Trump could be their demise since the president’s approval ratings are polled at 38-percent to 48-percent which isn’t great but his support base is solid. That’s why those that want to end the Trump presidency — any way possible — are stepping up the game to find something, anything that would cause Trump to resign. Every day comes some new development that doesn’t pan out – like the Stormy Daniels-Trump lawyer scandal – there’s not much there that damages the president no matter how the chips fall. Same goes for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his seemingly endless investigation into Russian-Trump collusion.

The current unprecedented assault upon this president just might backfire on the Democrats because all they have going for them is a collective hatred for a controversial president who is getting things done for the American people while putting more money in the paychecks of every day American voters who are fed up with the U.S. Congress.

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.